Be Careful What You Wish For
by Catastrophic Tomato
Summary: Although Romano never thought of this, now he has. It's too late, though; Prussia has changed from his usual egotistical and goofy self, into his younger  possibly even more annoying  child self! Now, it's up to Romano to change him back, somehow...
1. Wishes Do Come True?

**A/N: lol This story is completely random. I'm a huge fan of the Chibi Prussia Diaries by Arkham-Insanity on dA, and I wanted to make a story with little Prussia/Gilbert because I love cute stuff! 'Cept, I put him in a completely different scenario with an adult Romano to take care of him. I don't even know so, cool story bro, to whomever reads this. xD**

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><p>Romano continuously felt a slight prick against his face as he slept in his warm bed. He thought it was just in his dream, so he didn't even stir. Each time, however, it became more annoying and he was unable to bear it any longer. He groaned as he finally decided to awaken himself from his random dream and lazily opened his eyes. Almost immediately, something struck him right in the center of his left eye and he sat up, cursing from the pain.<p>

"I've startled the enemy!" said a childish voice, as Romano saw a small figure jump from the bed and disappear from sight.

"What the hell..?" he glanced to his side and found that his boyfriend, Prussia, was no longer lying there like he was last night.

Small footsteps scurried across the hardwood floor over to his side of the bed. When he glanced down, he caught a glimpse of an unexplainable sight with his uninjured eye.

"Take this!" said the voice again, coming from the mouth of a small white haired boy that stood near the side of the bed. He lifted up the wire hanger that was tightly clutched in his little pale hands, and threw it at Romano's face.

"Ow! What the - Who are you? How the hell did you get in here and where's Prussia?" Romano looked around the room to find the guy no where in sight.

All he knew was that some little brat was running around his room yelling nonsense and throwing things at him.

"Gilbird! I need reinforcements! Attack the beast!" the child yelled, as the bird on his head flew up into the air before landing on the nightstand. "Gilbird? Traitor! Fine, looks like the fate of this battle is in the hands of the awesome me!"

"Awesome?" Romano said, as he blocked a wristwatch that was thrown at him. Looking at the boy closely, he perfectly resembled Prussia, except he was very short and actually pretty cute, since he was obviously really young.

"It can't be.." his eyes widened when he thought of a certain possibility, watching as the boy went to find more ammo to throw at him.

"Amazing, huh?" came a mysterious voice.

Romano looked around the room and down at the floor but couldn't find the source of it.

"Up here!" he looked up to find a small pixie-like figure, flying above his head then landing on the empty pillow next to him.

"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Romano asked, as the fairy continued to stare at him.

"I'm Britannia Angel! And I granted your wish," it said, smiling as Romano frowned in disbelief.

"Did I seriously drink _that_ much wine last night?" he said, scratching his head as he stared at the delusion next to him. He didn't remember drinking more than one glass, and he sure as hell doesn't do drugs. So he must have been still asleep. A dream within a dream, he concluded. Whatever it was, he hoped that he would awaken soon and be freed from the stinging pain in his eye that he'd been attacked in.

"No, I just said I made your wish come true! You can thank me anytime now," said Britannia.

"What wish are you talking about?" he asked, deciding to go along with this odd scenario in order to get this stupid dream over with. When he would wake up, he'd tell Prussia all about it then get laughed at.

"The wish you made last night! You claimed that the man with white hair and red eyes acted just like a child, and that you wish you could've seen him as an actual child. You betted that he would probably be almost as egotistical and annoying as his current self!" Britannia explained, pointing to the small child that ran into the closet to plot new battle strategies.

Romano continued to stare, until he frowned and thought this was totally ridiculous. While it was true that Prussia was very immature sometimes, he still loved him to death. It was also true that he had wished such things the night before. Still, what wasn't true was that it had become reality. There's no way in hell that pixie fairies, angels or whatever crap this thing is, was real. Those things are just fantasy, just like a man physically changing into a little brat.

"So, when's the part where you say something even more stupid, and then you leave? I'd like to wake up now," Romano groaned as he rolled his eyes at the previous stupid explanation.

"It's not a dream! See," Britannia lifted his little wand and jabbed Romano in his other eye, as if it wasn't already bad enough that one eye was screwed up. He swiftly dodged Romano's flailing arms as he tried to swat him from being such a douche.

"Stop abusing my damn eyes!" Romano yelled, wiping away the painful tears on his face.

"I have to go now, someone else needs my help. Bye~"

"Wait! If this bullshit you speak of is true, by chance, how the hell do I turn him back?"

"Hm.. I don't know. When you figure it out, tell me!" and with that poor information, the little nuisance of an angel disappeared into thin air.

"Damn it, useless bastard. At least take the kid with you!" Romano cursed as he got out of bed. Since this supposedly wasn't a dream, it must mean that he has finally went insane. About time, too, because he's always been around bastards his entire life and it's a wonder how he didn't lose his sanity much sooner.

"Full force attack!" all of a sudden, the little annoyance from earlier came charging out of the closet and bumped into Romano's legs. He weakly whacked at the obstacle in front of him with a striped tie he found in the closet before Romano picked him up.

"Look, you little brat. I seem to be losing my mind so I don't need you yelling and running around the damn house to make it worse. Now, where did I keep those pills.." he said, as he carried the boy into the bathroom and searched through his medicine cabinet.

"You're lucky my awesome army of birds aren't here! I could take you down so easily," the boy said, as he struggled in Romano's tight grip.

"Shut it, or I'll drop you in the toilet," he warned, picking up a bottle and shoving multiple tablets into his mouth.

"….I have to use it."

"What?"

"Pee! I gotta pee!"

"Fine, hold on!" Romano quickly set him back down onto the floor and in front of the toilet.

"I can't do it when you're looking! Leave!" he whined, dancing around in a circle to try and hold the contents in his bladder.

"Whatever, just hurry up!" Romano exited the room and stood outside of the door. After a couple minutes went by and all was silent, he grew suspicious. He knocked on the door but there came no answer so he quickly opened it.

"What's going on-"

"Ahah! Victory is mine!" he yelled, spraying Romano with a can of shaving cream and stabbing his leg with a bottle of shampoo.

"Ack! That's it, I'm tired of your damn games."

Little Prussia wriggled around on the couch, trying to get loose but failing. Romano had taken a roll of tape and taped his mouth shut. He then tied his hands and legs up with spare ties he had and tossed him on couch before leaving the room to make an urgent phone call.

"Who the hell would I call about this.." Romano said to himself as he held the phone. He thought about calling a psychiatrist, but he didn't feel like spending hours a week trying to cure his craziness, nor did he feel like living in an insane asylum. He decided to call the first number at the top of his head.

After a while of staring at the struggling figure on the couch, the doorbell rang and Romano darted towards the front door to answer it.

"Finally, you're…you brought that bastard with you?" Romano glared at the two in front of him. Veneziano smiled and gave him a big hug as Germany awkwardly bowed his head before they entered the home.

"I thought it would be a good idea! You sounded so distressed on the phone, I didn't think I would be able to handle you on my own," Veneziano explained as he walked towards the living room. At first he'd thought his brother had had a mental breakdown. However, his eyes widened when he saw the little boy on the couch that Romano had oddly explained on the phone, even though he wasn't making any sense during their short little conversation before Romano told him to just get his ass over to his house right then.

"See! I'm not crazy, you can see him too, right? Even the potato bastard can see him!" Romano yelled, as he went over and removed the tape from the boy's mouth.

"So you've called for backup, huh? Well I can call for mine, too!" the boy said, as he began to imitate bird chirping sounds to call Gilbird. The other three only stared with their mouths open.

"Like I said on the phone, he doesn't seem to remember who I am or anything, really. It's like he's gone back to the days before he became the Teutonic Knights. He thinks this is some sort of battle and it's really annoying," Romano said as he rubbed his throbbing head.

Veneziano walked over to the still chirping boy and picked him up.

"He's so cute! Since he's not a nation yet, that means his name is still Gilbert, right? You're so cute, Gilbert!" Veneziano exclaimed, as he tightly hugged the confused boy in his arms.

"..How can you be so nonchalant about this whole thing? !" Romano yelled, then groaning and falling back onto the couch. It seems the stupid pills didn't work at all.

Veneziano handed Gilbert to a speechless and equally shocked Germany, then sat next to Romano on the couch to put a hand on his forehead.

"Are you alright? How do you feel?" he asked.

"My stupid boyfriend got turned into a damn kid, I'm feeling perfect. So damn perfect," Romano growled, feeling as if he was going to pass out. As if Prussia wasn't hard enough to deal with before, now Romano had to babysit until he figured out how to reverse the dumb wish; or as he saw it, the dumb curse.

"This guy is kinda s-scary.." Gilbert said, as he winced from Germany intently examining his body.

"Germany, you have to be gentle with children. Smile and always be nice!" Veneziano explained, as he took a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to Gilbert.

"Is that so?" Germany said, as he tried to force a smile. If he thought too long on this odd matter, he'd no doubt go insane. He needed to stay as sane as possible in order to focus on his work, which had piled up over the past week.

"Like hell I'd do that," Romano hissed, standing up and towering over the small child. "Listen here, you're under my roof, in my house. That means you will do what I say, and when I say it, until I find that stupid pixie and change you back!"

Gilbert only stared up at him in confusion.

"So I'm your henchman?" he asked.

"Uhh.. yeah, I guess you are. So you'd better listen to me!"

"But, you're not even good at fighting.. Oh well, I guess I can give some of my awesomeness to you, boss!" Gilbert shrugged and got on one knee to pledge his loyalty.

"Yeah, whatever.. and don't call me boss."

"Master."

"No no, that's just wrong.."

"Your highness?"

"Call me.. Godfather. Yes, that's good for now," Romano smirked, feeling almighty for bossing a kid around. For the first time, it was going to be him that was giving orders! Even after he'd left Spain when he became independent, he still felt like the underdog because of his brother. But now, he had someone that would look up to him and his authority. Or perhaps, he was just taking this whole thing way too seriously.

"Will my brother be alright? Maybe we should call in a group of top notch scientists and get a scientific explanation for this," Germany suggested, as he brought out his cell phone.

"What the hell are scientists going to do? They'll just take me to the crazy house and put him in an orphanage. Even you guys thought I was crazy at first. I'll take care of this myself," Romano said, as he finished untying Gilbert's hands.

"What should we do to help? I wanna help!" Veneziano said.

"Hm.. go interrogate that British jerk, surely he knows something about this. After all, I know that stupid fairy thing was his doing."

"Huh? England? But, he's scary! And a meanie!" Veneziano whined, shaking his head.

"We can't play the blame game just yet. We don't know for sure, so we'll just go ask him about it. In the meanwhile, please take good care of him," Germany said, as he dragged Veneziano out of the house.

"Now, what to do with you?" Romano said, glancing towards Gilbert. He'd never even imagined taking care of a kid, he didn't even know the first thing about them. They were annoying, loud, and trouble makers, so he never bothered with them. It was fun to watch the young children in Sicily play outside in the warm summer, but that was different because he wasn't the one taking care of them.

"I'm hungry! Where is the food? I like potato salad!" Gilbert yelled, running around the room to find anything edible.

"Shit, it's lunch time now.. I used the last of the noodles two nights ago, we'll have to go to the grocery store. First and foremost, we need to find you some clothes that actually fit," Romano said, as Gilbert was still wearing a nightshirt that fitted him like a long gown and dragged along the floor.

Romano rummaged through an old trunk in the attic until he found a pair of his old clothing from centuries ago. He dusted them off and examined their condition. A little worn out, but still cute nonetheless, he thought to himself as he held them up against Gilbert's frame. A perfect fit, too!

"Put these on," he said, handing them to Gilbert who only frowned.

"But, these are sissy girly clothes! I need awesome clothing or I can't fight!" Gilbert whined, dropping the items on the floor.

"These are mine from when I was little, and they're not girly! You're going to put them on and you're not going to complain."

Gilbert shook his head and turned around to walk out.

"Not so fast," Romano swiftly took him by the hand and removed the nightshirt, then slid his old small long-sleeved shirt over Gilbert's fidgeting head. "We're not going to a fight, we're just going to the damn store so stop being a brat."

When he finally got Gilbert fully dressed, they exited the house and Romano drove to the store. Every single thing they passed on the way there intrigued the younger boy, and Romano had to repeatedly grab him so that he wouldn't run off and get lost. Entering the store, he grabbed a basket and went straight to the isle of noodles. He couldn't decide if he should get the cheaper kind with lower quality, or the more expensive but the taste was satisfactory. Suddenly, he noticed his basket was getting full even though he hadn't put anything in it yet.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked, as Gilbert stuffed more junk into the basket.

"We need this stuff, don't worry I know what to choose!" Gilbert explained, putting a random box of chocolates in the basket and running to get more treats.

"We're not going to eat junk for dinner! We came here for one thing and I've got it. Put this crap back."

"But, but! We **need** it! This is awesome food chosen by the Gods!" Gilbert whined, as Romano refused to let him throw a bag of chips into the basket.

"No, that's just a bunch of sugar. So do as I say and put them back."

"Nein! I love them!"

"I said no, and that's final!"

"Please, Godfather! Please!" Gilbert yelled back, causing everyone in the general area to stare in confusion at the two.

"..Fine, ONE! Just choose one, and if you finish your food later I might let you have it," Romano gave in, trying his best to avoid the many stares from all directions.

"Awesome!" Gilbert smiled mischievously as he took everything out of the basket except for the rice krispie treats.

Romano hoped this would be the last of the absurdity, but once they left the store after buying the couple items, Gilbert found something else of great interest.

"Godfather, look! A wild stallion has appeared!" he shouted, pointing to the very small merry-go-round on the side of the store.

"That's nice, now come on."

"We have to catch it! It will be my noble steed that I shall use in future battles against the world!" Gilbert ran over to the small machine and quickly mounted on the fake horse before Romano could protest.

"Why isn't it moving?" he said, frowning as he slapped the horse on the rear.

"It's a machine. That means it's not real and it costs a quarter to make it move," Romano watched in amusement as Gilbert yelled at the horse to move.

"That's it! Let me use this 'quarter' thing and I'll be able to ride off into the sunset!"

"Nope. We don't have time for that crap, this pasta will take a while to make and I'm hungry as hell, so let's go home now."

"I can never give up! My awesomeness forbids me," he continuously messed with the machine before getting up and kicking it.

"Whatever, I'm leaving. Bye," Romano waved and walked off.

"Hold on! Wait for your henchman!" Gilbert cried out, rushing over to follow Romano to the car.

After a long preparation, Romano successfully cooked and finished the pasta without even having to push Gilbert out of the kitchen more than ten times. He laid out a small bowl and fork on the table for Gilbert to use so that he wouldn't make a mess. The kid quickly ran to the dining room as Romano picked him up and placed him on a chair stacked with books so that he could reach the table. His big grin changed to a pout when he saw the food, and he continued to stare at it in disgust.

"Eat your pasta before it gets cold," Romano said.

"It looks like worms. I want potato salad! Can you make chicken stew?"

"Eat the damn pasta or starve. I'm not making you anything else!"

"Nein! I want wurst! Wurst! Wurst!" Gilbert shouted, pounding his small fists on the table as he continued to chant.

Romano loudly groaned as he held his head in frustration. He'd been constantly going back and forth with this kid all day, and it wasn't like his usual arguments with adults. Gilbert seemed oblivious to Romano's anger and disapproving glares, so no matter what he said or did, nothing really mattered.

"Won't you please just eat it? You like this stuff, I make it for you all the time. If you don't eat it, you can't have your treats we bought earlier," Romano said, tired of yelling. He picked up the small fork and tried to feed a bit of the pasta to Gilbert, who finally stopped chanting and stared at it. After a couple seconds, his hungry stomach turned on him and he opened his mouth to welcome the food.

"It's good, right?" Romano asked, feeding him a second fork full.

"Ja! You're not so bad, Godfather," Gilbert smiled, as he swiftly scooped the food into his mouth.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, stop calling me Godfather. It's more annoying than I thought and people stare when you shout it out like that."

"Then what should I call you, Godfather?"

"Just call me Romano like you usually do. I mean, like you usually _did_.. just call me Romano," he said, starting to miss the way things used to be. Sure, Gilbert was cute and just as loud as he is when he was Prussia, but kids seriously weren't his style. He missed having leisurely time with his boyfriend and going out to fine restaurants to drink together.

"Romano, give me my treats now!" Gilbert yelled, as he had completely cleared his plate from food.

"Alright, calm down," Romano reached into a cabinet in the kitchen and brought out one treat. Gilbert quickly grabbed it and chewed on it in delight. He seriously was so freaking adorable after all, Romano thought.

Until it was bath time.

"I don't like baths!" Gilbert yelled, splashing the water everywhere as Romano struggled to wash his body.

"Stop moving, damn it! You're getting water on the floor and on me!" he sighed and poured some water over Gilbert's head to wash out the shampoo.

"When I get big, I'm going to put you in the bathtub and see how you like it!"

"You already have.." Romano blushed, and shook his head. Now was not the time to think about such things.

"Look out! The enemy is in sight!" Gilbert said, as he played with a rubber duck and splashed around the bubbles.

"You really do like this kind of stuff, huh?" Romano asked, as he watched Gilbert have his own imaginary battle.

"Ja! When I'm a nation, I'm going to get rid of all the bad guys and take over everything! The world will be covered in awesome! Vati says so," he said, putting the bubbles on his face to make a big beard.

"Vati?"

"Mhm. He is mean sometimes but he always makes good food and he taught me how to hunt! I wonder what he'll think when he finds out you captured me. You'd better hide when that happens," he smirked, imagining Romano getting his ass kicked.

Romano thought for a second in confusion before he understood who the boy was talking about. His mind must have really been completely stuck in the old days now that he was a kid again.

"You mean your grandfather, Germania? Oh, but he's been dead for a long ass time now."

Gilbert's happy expression died as he turned to him and stared with quivering eyes, instantly making Romano deeply regret what he had just said.

"Vati? D-Dead…?"

"No! I meant.. Uhh, he's away! Yeah, he's been really busy conquering the world and stuff. So I'm taking care of you until he gets back?" he lied.

"Oh.. that makes sense! He and that old guy, Rome, always go out for long periods of time!" Gilbert smiled finally, as Romano sighed with relief.

"Yeah, sure. It's time to get out now."

Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to get Gilbert dried off and dressed into a pair of pajamas Romano found that fit him, well slightly fit him. The boy must've been tired so he didn't put up a fight when it was time for bed, but he still needed his favorite bedtime remedy, of course. He excitedly climbed into the big bed and shoved a book into Romano's arms.

"Read it, it looks awesome."

"This? Seriously, it's so long! I can't possibly read the entire story in one night. Besides, this isn't for kids. It's far from a children's book," Romano shook his head and laid his copy of 'The Godfather' on the nightstand.

"Since you read it already, tell me what happens! Some of it, at least? I need to know!"

"But-"

"Please! I love it!" Gilbert continued to whine.

"Stop saying you _love _something just because you want it! That's completely misusing the word love. But, fine, I'll tell you the story.." he sighed, as he began the tale. He exchanged some of the explicit events with fairytales and dragons, crap like that. After a while, he didn't even know what story he was talking about, it was so screwed up.

"Wow! That was intense, I want to be strong like that Michel Corlin guy, except when he got his own brother killed by the Don Dragon," Gilbert said, as he yawned and snuggled closer to Romano.

"Michael Corleone. Now get some rest, we're going out tomorrow," Romano corrected him, and raised the blanket to keep them warm.

Gilbert quickly fell asleep, occasionally mumbling random words in his sleep and fidgeting around a bit. He was even more adorable now that he wasn't yelling or attacking anything. Romano supposed he would be able to hold out just a while longer, in order to change Gilbert back into his usual self. Hopefully it would be soon, because he preferred being taken care of instead of being the one to do the caring. There was no way he was going to have any type of relationship with a kid, and he wasn't going to raise one as if he was Spain. Tomorrow, he'd find a remedy even if he had to ask every other nation in the world.

The next morning, Romano quickly learned a lesson of parenthood: make the child use the toilet before going to bed.

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><p><strong>AN: Hmm, this is kind of like a break from my usual type of stories. I'm coming up with another Prumano romance fic, and I need extra time and ideas on it; but since I'm so obsessed with writing I'm gonna make this story up with random chapters once in awhile to calm my urges...**


	2. Gilbert's Long Day

**A/N: So I had time to update this randomness, here ya are! :D...**

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><p>This time, it wasn't the pricking to the face or the loud screaming that woke Romano up. No, it was the repeatedly slamming of doors, drawers, quiet whimpering, and the pitter-patting sound of little feet running all across the floor in the room. He groaned as he couldn't take it anymore, and opened his eyes to see what was up. It was really early in the morning, probably only 6:30 and little Gilbert was no longer lying next to him. He moved the covers to see if any of these lumps were the kid, and instead he found a nice surprise.<p>

"Gilbert! Come here, right now!" he yelled, as the boy suddenly appeared from inside of the closet. He was naked.

"What is it? I'm on a mission at the moment," Gilbert said, trying to avoid Romano's angry glare.

"Why are you naked? Never mind, care to explain this?" he said, pointing to the wet spot on the other side of the bed.

"Ja, um.. umm.. my awesomeness was leaking out! I need another change of clothes," Gilbert claimed, as he went through the drawers of Romano's dresser. He continued to yank out shirts, boxers, socks and everything else Romano owned. The room was a complete mess, with clothing lying in every direction.

"My clothes! Stop that, damn it! And, since when is urine another word for awesomeness?" Romano growled, as he got out of the bed and grabbed the items from Gilbert's tiny hands. He was glad the boy had rolled over in his sleep, so the liquid didn't get on him, too. However, he was not glad to have his sheets soaked by the little brat who was now destroying his room.

"It's not! It's awesome sweat, I swear!" Gilbert yelled, his face turning red from embarrassment.

"Yes, because small children sweat so much it makes little puddles. Stop lying to me, it's getting you no where."

"B-But! It's not pee! I didn't do it on purpose! I mean, it's just.." Gilbert tried to find an adequate explanation but failed, as his eyes began to water and he started to silently whimper.

"Hey, hey! Don't cry, I just wanted you to tell me the truth," Romano said, as he kneeled down and wiped the tears that slowly trickled down Gilbert's small face. Now he felt like the bad guy, for making such a cute little creature cry. He wasn't really any good at this sort of comfort stuff, so he waited until Gilbert finished crying before giving him a warm hug.

"I.. had a bad dream, the Don Dragon ate you and my sword broke! It was an accident.. are you angry?" Gilbert asked, looking too damn cute right now for anyone to possibly resist.

"Of course I'm not angry, just don't lie to me anymore, alright? Besides, I used to wet the bed all the time when I was a kid. It's nothing to feel embarrassed about," Romano said, as he covered Gilbert's bare body with a long shirt he found on the floor.

"Oh, so you stopped wetting the bed last night?" Gilbert asked, gazing at Romano in awe as if it was some sort of magnificent discovery.

"No no! I stopped centuries ago when I was a damn kid!" Romano yelled, puffing his cheeks as he gathered up the stained sheets and covers. "All I have to do is wash these, problem solved."

"Give the evil sheets a bath! They'll learn their lesson for tricking me into wetting them!" Gilbert called out, as Romano laughed to himself and exited the room.

Kids sure do have wild imaginations, Romano thought, walking into the washroom and putting on the load of fabrics. At least now he knew not to let Gilbert have apple juice before bed again. Just to be safe, he should make him use the bathroom before sleep, next time. This made him wonder when Gilbert would change back into an adult again, and how. He didn't feel as distressed as he did the day before about having to take care of a kid, but he wasn't exactly content now, either. Thinking about it gave him a headache, and he was glad when the phone rang to interrupt his complex thoughts.

"Finally you called back!" he said, as he ran into the other room and answered the phone.

"Good morning to you, too! How is little Gilbert?" Veneziano said, on the other side of the line.

"He's fine, he had a little accident but I took care of it. So, what did he say?"

"What did who say?"

"England, dumb ass! That's who you consulted with about this damn problem, right?" Romano yelled into the phone, irritated now.

"Oh, right! Well, he said it's not his problem and that his magical creatures act on their own. Also, he said to stop calling it a pixie-fairy because it's just an angel."

"I can call the little demon whatever the hell I want! So, the bastard is pretty much useless? Damn him, now what am I going to do.." Romano sighed and rubbed his temple, trying to think of a back-up plan. He obviously didn't know anything about stupid magic, because it didn't exist. Well, technically it did since Prussia got turned into a midget, but still! This was so annoying, now he thought his head would explode.

"He said you shouldn't have wished for this in the first place."

"It was a stupid joke! I hardly even remember wishing it now. Hell, forget this, I'll take that fairy and shove it right up his-"

"But he said there may be a way to reverse it!" Veneziano cut him off, as Romano was practically screaming into the phone now.

"And what is that?"

"Love, care, and responsibility! He told me that sometimes these things can be life lessons, and once you learn that lesson, everything will return to normal! Then, he offered to come over and give Germany and I some scones so I hung up," he explained, frowning in disgust.

"That's hardly any help at all.. but, all I have to do is treat the kid right and 'learn' some crap, then he'll return back to my original egotistical but still hot boyfriend?"

"Yup! Something like that. We'll talk about it later when you get here, I need to hang up and get ready!" Veneziano hurriedly said, as he was about to hang the phone up.

"Wait! What are you talking about?" Romano asked in confusion.

"I'm talking about the meeting, remember? You promised you would show up, even though it doesn't really concern you and your regions," he bluntly said.

"Shit, I forgot all about it! I was going to take Gilbert out today to buy him a few clothes, then he'll stop complaining about wearing my old ones."

"That sounds like fun! You can take him shopping after the meeting, I'll go with you. Anyways, see you in a few hours!" Veneziano chimed, as he quickly hung up.

Damn it, how was he supposed to take an annoying kid to a boring meeting? At least it was being held in Italy this time, instead of at America's place or someone up north, as usual. Still, he'd have to quickly catch the next flight to Venice before he wouldn't be able to show up at all. He'd come up the rest of the plans later, so he ran back up the stairs and into his bedroom.

"Ah! What the hell are you doing?" he asked, as his room was now twice as disastrous, and the clothes from his closet spread throughout the room.

"I'm being you!" Gilbert smiled, putting on a long pair of socks and stepping into a pair of Romano's expensive shoes. The mischievous boy had on one of Romano's dress shirts, and his favorite tie around his neck. He reached for the expensive fedora and placed it on his head before looking into the mirror next to the door of the closet.

"You're being me?" Romano asked, looking at the odd sight before him.

"Ja, I am Romano!" he said, puffing his cheeks, "Do whatever I say, damn it! Um.. bastard bastard bastard!"

Romano instantly bursted out with laughter as Gilbert continued to imitate him in the mirror. He looked both ridiculous and so damn adorable, words couldn't describe it.

"So if you're me, then I have to be you?" Romano asked, as he sat down and played along with the ridiculous game.

"You can't be me, I'm too awesome. You can try, though!"

"All I have to do is explain how awesome my awesomeness is, then you shall see the awesome within me," he teased, and perfectly imitated Prussia's signature smirk.

"Not bad, but you're missing something!" Gilbert said, as he reached up and grabbed Gilbird from the nightstand. He turned around and gently placed the bird on Romano's head before giving him a thumbs up.

"So, now I'm the Almighty Awesome?"

"Ja, except for this," he looked again at Romano's head, then innocently reached up and tightly pulled the curl, trying to yank it out.

Romano immediately yelped and jumped up from the floor, the sudden movement frightening Gilbert a little. He stared in confusion as the grown man's face turned red and he scratched his head.

"What happened to you, bastard damn it jerk?" Gilbert said, still trying to imitate him.

"It's nothing! And stop saying those words now, you shouldn't make it a habit," Romano said, as he finally calmed down and began to grab his things so that they could make it to the airport in time.

"Bastard?" he said again, tilting his head. "But, you always say it! Why can't I?"

"Because! I said so. If you say any of them again, I'll... make you take 3 baths and you won't get anymore treats!" Romano yelled, as he undressed the confused young boy and made him wear another pair of his old childhood clothing.

"Again with these sissy clothes! I want the dam- I mean, I want to wear your clothes," he whined, as they finally exited the house and hurried into the car.

"My clothes are obviously too big, now shut up, sit still, and don't say another word until we get to the airport," Romano warned, as he quickly drove off.

* * *

><p>For once, Gilbert actually listened to his demands. He quickly fell asleep in the seat as soon as they left the neighborhood, as Romano raced to the airport. He figured once he got to Venice, he'd drop the kid off to some daycare center not too far from their meeting spot. He'd previously thought of leaving him there in Sicily, asking the neighbors to baby sit him for a little while. Romano quickly discarded that idea, when he feared of coming home to a burnt down neighborhood and angry people set on getting revenge. When Gilbert wasn't being cute, loud, and annoying, he was destructive.<p>

When they came to the parking lot of the airport, Gilbert finally woke up and practically glued his face to the window as they drove by the many different people and vehicles. He impatiently jumped around as Romano bought their last minute tickets and took him to the waiting area. They still had a few minutes before they would have to board the plane, so he bought Gilbert a small biscuit to eat and himself a cup of coffee.

"How long will our journey be? I don't see the steeds anywhere. Are we traveling on foot? Did you bring your sword?" Gilbert asked many questions that Romano tried to ignore, but eventually gave in.

"Like I said earlier, we're just going to my brother's place. We're going to be riding one of those things right there," Romano explained, pointing to the planes outside of the window.

Gilbert literally flipped out when he saw this new discovery, and ran towards the window to get a better view. His big red eyes grew even bigger as he gasped at the mysterious creatures called airplanes. After that, his curiosity rose to an all new level and he pointed at every little thing he saw, asking Romano what it was and demanding to let him touch things. He happily ran around the entire area, screaming and laughing as if he'd eaten a dozen packs of candy. Everyone looked at him as if to say whose maniacal child he was.

"Gilbert, get your ass over here and sit down," Romano said, ready to snatch him up and tie him down with something.

"Nein! This is hunting procedure! I have to abapt to this environment!"

"You mean adapt. Now come here!"

"Woah!" Gilbert ignored Romano's requests and ran to a nearby gift shop, gazing all around at the shiny objects.

Romano sighed and got up from his chair to receive the little nuisance before he broke anything.

"Look, it's a bird, just like Gilbird! I need this, it will make a good present for him when we go back to your castle!" he exclaimed, pulling Romano by the finger to show him the toy bird that closely resembled his own.

"That's just a toy, and it looks cheap. It'll probably break within a day, in your care. Come on," Romano said, grabbing Gilbert's hand to pull him out of the shop.

"Neeeiiin! I need it! I need it!" he whined loudly, struggling to pull away from Romano's grip.

"Shut it, you're drawing attention," Romano sighed loudly.

"But, I love it! I promise to be good!"

Romano figured it would be easier to just give him what he wanted. He didn't want to spoil him or act like a pushover, but trying hard was far too bothersome and he didn't need this right now. He quickly picked up the stupid toy and purchased it for the whining little brat, then handed it to him. Gilbert immediately shut his mouth and hugged the toy, before smiling up at Romano.

"Danke!" he said, his cute voice and smile almost completely taking away Romano's anger.

"Whatever, you better be good like you promised. It's time to go now," he said, grabbing Gilbert's hand and rushing to board their plane.

The previous exhausting events absorbed all of Romano's energy, so he quickly fell asleep once they were high in the clouds. He made sure Gilbert stayed buckled in so he wouldn't wildly run around again, possibly even running into the cockpit and causing one huge disaster. The last thing he needed was to wake up in severe pain, and in a pile of flaming destruction on the ground. It's a good thing he was a nation, so he wouldn't perish along with the other unfortunate passengers.

A few hours passed by in the blink of an eye. Romano finally awakened, feeling refreshed as the plane landed safely on the ground. All the while exiting the plane and gathering their little luggage, Gilbert was still completely silent. Romano noticed he was paler than usual, and he wouldn't stop shaking. He looked as if he'd seen the grim reaper himself.

"Alright, what's wrong now?" Romano finally asked, as he couldn't stand the horrified expression on Gilbert's face.

"I am never, never ever _ever _going on that big bird with you again!" he cried out.

"It's not a bird.. I'm sorry, I guess I should have stayed awake with you or something?"

"It was not fun, it was not awesome! It wouldn't stop jiggling me up and down!" Gilbert whined, jumping up and down to imitate the plane ride.

Romano laughed and rubbed his hand around Gilbert's messy head of hair.

"I know, I know. It's hard the first time, but you'll soon get used to it. We'll have to take another plane on the way back home."

* * *

><p>They took a taxicab, and rode around the city. This mysterious land was different than the one from before, Gilbert noticed. There were people walking everywhere, and even people riding on these weird things inside of the water. When he would become a nation, he decided, this would be the first place he'd invade. Then he would force everyone there to worship his awesomeness! After a while, the car stopped and they got out to walk a short ways down the street and to a small building. It was very colorful and many small children ran around on the other side of the gate. Perfect, now he would have some minions!<p>

"So, I'll be back soon to pick you up. Don't cause any trouble or talk about battles and crap," Romano said, as he turned around to walk out after he spoke with a young woman who worked there.

"Wait! You can't leave me here, I'm your henchman so I must join you on the battlefield!" Gilbert cried, clinging onto Romano's legs.

"Geez, I'm only going a few blocks away!" he said, as Gilbert refused to loosen his grip.

"You'll die without me to protect you! I am your knight!"

Romano's heart felt warm and fuzzy from the way Gilbert refused to let him go. Still, there was no time to deal with this childishness because the meeting was going to start in only 20 minutes. The only way to get out of there was to speak Gilbert's language. Romano bent down to Gilbert's eye level and looked as serious as possible.

"I'm not going to die. The enemies I shall face are really stupid, and they know better not to mess with me because I'd kick their asses," he said, gently stroking Gilbert's head.

"Are you sure you really don't need backup? I didn't bring my bow and arrow but I can use my fists!" Gilbert said, balling his little hands into tight fists.

"I'm sure. Besides, there's a very important task that only you can do," Romano whispered, as if it was some huge secret strategy.

"You see, the people here are ordinary citizens. They aren't nations, nor are they nations in-training. So it's your job to protect them from the enemy until I get back," he said, patting Gilbert on the shoulder as he stood up.

"I see! Well you don't have to worry, I have skills in all categories and, and.. willpower!" Gilbert smiled, as he jumped around and kicked a wall to prove his strength.

"Yeah! So while I'm kicking ass on the field, you stay here to protect the citizens. And uh.. Gilbird is protecting our headquarters!" Romano said, going along with whatever the hell was happening.

"Gilbird is so awesome.. alright, go kill some bad guys!" Gilbert yelled, as he ran into the playroom to fulfill his duty.

Romano sighed with relief as his brilliant plan had worked. He looked at the time on his watch before quickly darting out of the small building and catching another cab to the meeting.

However, all during this meeting, which was not especially important so only a few nations had to show up, he couldn't focus. He usually didn't care to focus, but this time he couldn't help but wonder how Gilbert was doing. He imagined the kid running around and breaking things, perhaps even battling against the other toddlers there. Come to think of it, he'd never even heard of that place being there before. Was Gilbert really safe there? This was agonizing, and he couldn't wait for the meeting to finally finish. He didn't even take notice of the fact that the rest of the nations had either been arguing or having their own little conversations on the side. Finally, Veneziano adjourned the meeting because everyone was starting to make him cry.

"Romano! I'm so happy to see you, it's been a while," Spain said, as he came out of nowhere.

"Oh, yeah. I really have to go and-"

"So is it true? Did Prussia really turn into a magical elf?" France asked, as he came out of nowhere as well.

"What?" Romano looked in confusion.

"Italy told us that Prussia got turned into a cute little elf. I asked him what drugs he was using, but he said he was telling the truth," France continued, as he sighed and ruffled Romano's hair.

"Don't touch me, bastard. It's not true what my stupid brother says, but something did happen to Prussia.. I have to go get him. I'll show you all so you can just shut up and help me," Romano said, as he ran out of the room and exited the building before anyone could ask more questions.

He finally made his way back to the daycare, only to find a fire truck and an ambulance outside of the building as well. Suddenly, his mind imagined all sorts of horrible different scenarios of what could have happened. He instantly darted inside of the building to look for Gilbert, praying that he was safe.

"Gilbert!" he yelled, looking frantically through the empty rooms. Finally, he found the room in which everyone was gathered in for some reason.

"Oh, Godf- I mean, Romano!" Gilbert yelled, smiling as he ran to greet him.

"Are you alright? What happened here?" he asked, tightly squeezing Gilbert in his arms.

"I protected the citizens like you said! Then these cool guys came in here and gave us awesome stuff to play with!" Gilbert exclaimed, showing Romano the toy fire truck in his hands.

Romano finally heard from the women working there that a few firemen and paramedics came for show-and-tell day. They had let the children get inside of the trucks and even gave them free toys to play with. He felt a bit stupid for panicking like that, but was happy to see Gilbert interact with the other children and learn a few modern things.

"I made this for you," Gilbert said, handing Romano a craft made out of macaroni. "I tried to eat the white stuff but they said I couldn't, bastar- I mean, jerks. But, then they showed me how to make this! It's awesome, huh?"

"It is. Great job, I'll hang it up on fridge when we get back home," Romano smiled, as he took Gilbert by the hand and left the building. "I have some people for you to meet, for now."

* * *

><p>All of the present nations in the room only stared with their jaws dropped at the short figure before them. It made Gilbert really uncomfortable to be the center of attention so suddenly, and he hid behind Romano's legs. These must have been the enemies Romano was speaking of before! They all looked dumb, and now that he was actually on the battlefield, he was scared to death. Even so, he had to be the brave and awesome henchman that he was!<p>

"He's…. just so edible!" France finally said, breaking the silence. He practically floated over to the small child, but Romano stood in his way to protect _his_ Gilbert.

"Stop right there! I didn't bring him here as a damn pet, he's still Prussia and I need to change him back!" he yelled.

"But, he's so miniature!" Hungary said, as she picked him up. Somehow, everyone had already snuck behind Romano's back and were now examining the new, cute discovery.

Gilbert stared in confusion as everyone talked to him at the same time. Each of them tried to get a turn to squeeze his cheeks and such, it was really annoying.

"He stills look like a nuisance," Austria said, as he tried to resist the urge of wanting that cuteness just as well.

"He looks almost exactly like when we were kids. But, I don't know, he seems so harmless now! Aren't you?" Hungary said, tightly hugging Gilbert against her chest that he almost couldn't breathe.

"Girls are icky!" he yelled, trying to squirm his away out of her grasp.

"How rude! We'll just have to fix that, then," she said, perking her lips and teasingly trying to kiss his cheeks.

Gilbert needed to find a weakness, and quickly! He was going to try pulling her hair, but she had it wrapped up into a neat bun. He looked down at the weird lumps in her chest and decided that must have been the spot! He lifted up his arm then steadily and firmly grasped her breast.

"Romanooo! Help your henchman!" Gilbert cried, as he was now back on the ground after Hungary whacked him on the head and left the room, embarrassed.

"That's why you don't grab.. well, you didn't know any better," Romano sighed, and picked Gilbert up. "You idiots are scaring him! Just shut up and listen!"

Everyone finally quieted down and actually listened to Romano for once, it was almost a miracle.

"So, he's a kid again, it's a big deal and I need to change him back. _Jerkland_ can't change him back, and since he's not at this meeting I need some advice from you bastards."

"I know how to take care of children!" France said, raising his hand.

"Anyone else? Please?" Romano pleaded, completely ignoring France and his repetitive hand raising.

"Well, I raised you, so I can help you out!" Spain said, poking at Gilbert's cheeks.

"I can teach you about discipline," Austria suggested, glaring as Gilbert quickly buried his face into Romano's chest.

After a long while of discussing, or rather, arguing about how to properly take care of a child, Romano took a very exhausted Gilbert to Veneziano's place to rest for the night. He concluded that he would have to combine the advice given to him, since Spain's consisted of pretty much spoiling the kid and Austria's was like describing child labor or something. If what England had said was true, then all Romano had to do was take care of him and he'd naturally turn back to normal. But how long would this take? It had only been two days and we was just about at his wits' end.

"I had fun today," Gilbert said, lying in the guestroom's bed, next to Romano.

"That's good, and I'm surprised the jet lag only hit you just now. You've seriously got way too much energy to spare," Romano said, brushing Gilbert's hair from his face.

"And, the small citizens at the place I guarded said that I wear funny clothes!" Gilbert pouted, as he knew those sissy girly clothes just wouldn't do.

"Damn, we didn't even have the time to go shopping today. Alright, I promise to take you tomorrow. Looks like we're going to be in Venice for a little longer than expected, too."

"What about Gilbird? He can't protect the castle by himself for too long!" he said, clutching the toy he'd gotten earlier in his hands and hoping his little bird friend would be able to last.

"You wasted all of his damn bird food on the ground before we left. I'm sure he'll manage," Romano sighed and couldn't stop thinking about the messy room they'd left behind; clothes and bird food everywhere.

"That's true, and I trained him to kill monsters," Gilbert yawned and closed his eyes, thinking about his fun day.

"Right.. well, goodnight," Romano smiled, and turned out the small lamp on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Goodnight, Vati.." Gilbert mumbled, already half-asleep.

Why did he have to be so damn cute?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: lol I made it sound like I actually have a life.. I always update so fast because I'm _kinda_ homeschooled. I'm in a program where I go to school once a week, aka every Tuesday. I'm 17, btw.. sooo anyway I shall update the other story next! **


	3. Gilbert At The Mall

**A/N: Don't worry I did not forget about this story~ So, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>The smell of something delicious and awesome interrupted Gilbert's dreams of great battles and hunting. He excitedly opened his eyes and looked around the room to survey his surroundings. After giving those sleepy red eyes a gentle rub, he carefully climbed out of the big bed so he wouldn't crash onto the floor. He hoped that he had grown a couple inches in his sleep, because the giant people of the world had so many advantages over him; but they weren't awesome at being stealthy like he was. He tiptoed across the hardwood floor of the guestroom in Veneziano's home. Leaning against the door, he listened for the enemy.<p>

"Enemy located, time to set the plan in motion," he said to himself.

Gilbert stood on his tippy toes and reached for the doorknob. He slowly twisted it clockwise and pulled it open, inch by inch. Once the opening was wide enough for him to squeeze through, he discreetly slid against the wall and towards the kitchen. The voices of Romano and Veneziano became clearer as he neared the direction of which the wonderful aroma originated. He stopped by the corner of the wall that lead into the room and peered around the corner.

"Target located," he whispered, hungrily glaring up at the pile of delicious toast spread with honey on a plate.

This would be difficult, considering the fact that the plate was high on the counter which he couldn't possibly reach. It was also next to Romano, who was steadily cooking small sausages for Gilbert to eat. Veneziano seemed to be preoccupied with making eggs and coffee.

"What should I do, Gilbird?" he muttered to himself, wishing his little bird friend was there to aid him.

Suddenly, Romano walked out of the kitchen and towards the dining room with many dishes in his arms. He was probably going to set the table, so this was Gilbert's one chance to make a move, since Veneziano was facing the opposite way. He glanced at the nearby stool and figured that would be his partner in crime. He discreetly dashed over to the small wooden stool and picked it up, carrying it over to the counter and gently setting it down.

"You're mine," he smirked, stepping onto the stool and nervously reaching his hand up to the counter. It's a good thing Veneziano was humming a song to himself, that was a great distraction and exactly what Gilbert needed to claim his victory.

"What do you think you're doing?" came the voice of Romano, who had somehow reappeared into the kitchen and was now standing behind him.

"Mission abort!" Gilbert shouted, dropping the sweet bread back onto the plate and jumping off of the stool.

"Not so fast." Romano swiftly grabbed him and hoisted him up into the air.

"Ahh! Put me down, giant! Can't you see I'm trying to retreat?" Gilbert yelled, struggling in Romano's grip.

"Calm down, you can eat breakfast after you brush your teeth."

Romano carried him into the large bathroom down the hallway. He had to place him on the counter next to the sink since he was too short to reach it on his own. He reached into the cabinet and grabbed the small childish toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste, then handed them to Gilbert. The boy stared at it for a short while and tilted his head.

"You remember how to use these, right? Just like I showed you," Romano said, placing the toothbrush into one of Gilbert's small hand and the toothpaste into his other one.

"Of course I do! I'm a master at this already," Gilbert smiled and looked determined. He then proceeded to forcefully squeeze the tube, causing the toothpaste to gash out and land everywhere but the brush.

"No, that's too much! Give me the damn thing, I'll do it," Romano sighed, grabbing the toothbrush and quickly squeezing a little bit of the paste onto it.

He showed Gilbert once again how to brush and watched in amusement as the kid treated this simple activity as a fierce battle between brush and teeth.

"This stuff isn't half bad," Gilbert said, observing the minty taste in his mouth.

"**Don't** swallow it, it's not for eating," Romano warned, when it looked as if Gilbert was about to do just that.

"What will happen if I do?"

"You'll explode into millions of tiny pieces."

Gilbert gasped in horror and quickly spit the dangerous stuff back into the sink, then desperately washed his mouth out with the running water.

"Why are you trying to kill me, I thought I was your henchman!" he yelled, teary eyed.

"I'm not trying to kill you! That was a joke, calm down." Romano couldn't help but laugh to himself at how gullible Gilbert was. But, he supposed most children were.

After they finished, he lifted Gilbert off of the counter and took him to the table, setting him down into a chair stacked with books. Gilbert stared, wide eyed at the delicious breakfast in front of him and prepared to dig in. He lifted his hand to dig in but Romano quickly grabbed his wrist.

"Before you eat, what do you say to the chefs?"

Gilbert stared at him in confusion and then glanced back to the mouthwatering breakfast.

"Make more food?" he answered.

"No, that's not it. Remember what Mr. Austria said yesterday about manners?"

"It's easy, Gilbert! Just say-"

"No, Veneziano. He has to learn this stuff," Romano said, cutting him off.

Gilbert thought hard for a few seconds before a light bulb went off in his small head. He smiled brightly and raised his hand.

"Oh, right! Please and thank you for the food," he said, then began to devour his meal.

"Not like that - Oh well, at least you remembered that phrase," Romano sighed, then began to eat his as well.

Gilbert scarfed down the food like a hungry dinosaur. When he was finished, the food ended up not only in his tummy, but also on his shirt, around his plate, and on the floor. It's a good thing Veneziano put a bib on him before he ate, but that didn't stop him from wasting it every place else. Romano irritably picked up a napkin and dabbed Gilbert's little cheeks with it as he drank a small cup of milk.

"Next, we'll have to teach you some table manners."

Veneziano only smiled at his adorableness and began to sweep up the remains of the food.

"That was good! Um.. please and thank you!" Gilbert yelled.

"In this type of situation, just say thank you. When you want something, say please," Romano reminded him.

"I know how to say please, but, that's way too much to remember!" he whined.

"Well you'll have to learn it some day! You might as well start now."

Gilbert imitated Romano's usual sigh and finished his cup of milk. He sighed again and then burped.

"Now you use the phrase, 'excuse me'."

"You're excused," Gilbert said.

Romano face palmed and said, "Not me, you!"

Gilbert fidgeted around in his seat uncomfortably for a few seconds before letting out a small cry.

"Romanooo, I have to use the bathroom," he whined, as he couldn't reach the floor.

"Hold on, damn it." Romano quickly stood up and lifted Gilbert out of the chair then set him down on the floor. He grabbed his hand and began escorting him to the bathroom.

"I can go on my own! You don't have to take me, I'm not a baby," Gilbert said, puffing his cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah I know. You're 'awesome' and whatnot. Hurry up, though."

* * *

><p>Gilbert excitedly ran off towards the bathroom and pushed the door closed behind him. Relieved, Romano plopped down onto the fancy couch in the living room and began to watch the TV. This morning marked the third day in which he'd been taking care of little Gilbert. He felt like he was becoming good at it, but it was still nonetheless difficult. At least Gilbert wasn't an infant, then Romano would have been pulling his hair out by now. The only thing worse than kids were crying babies and smelly diapers.<p>

"You're doing a great job taking care of Gilbert," Veneziano said, as he walked into the room and sat next to Romano.

"Yeah well, that's only because you're helping me right now. Back at home, it was a disaster," Romano sighed, still thinking about the huge mess they left at home. It would take forever to clean that up.

"Still, I think you're doing better than I expected! Gilbert seems to trust you, and the fact that you're showing compassion is good."

"Well-"

Suddenly, the sound of a huge crash came from inside of the hallway. Both Romano and Veneziano looked at each other in confusion for a split second before getting up and dashing to see the cause of the noise. In the hallway, Gilbert stood frozen in shock around the remains of one of Veneziano's many vases. Colorful broken glass covered the floor at his feet.

"What the hell are you doing? !" Romano shouted, as he made his way over to the still boy and carefully tried not to step on any of the shards.

"I'll get the broom!" Veneziano said, and quickly ran to the pantry.

"I-I only t-touched it…" Gilbert stuttered, as he was still shaking from the sudden crash.

"How many times did I tell you not to touch things here? If they don't belong to you, don't touch them!" Romano yelled, using his shirt to wipe the blood from Gilbert's slightly cut foot and hands.

Gilbert stayed silent as Romano continued to examine his body for any glass that might've stuck to him.

"You're lucky these are only slight cuts, you could've been seriously injured! Why don't you listen to me? I tell you these things for a reason. At least none of it got into your eyes," Romano continued to lecture, as Veneziano reappeared with the broom and small band-aids to cover the cuts in Gilbert's soft skin.

"I'm sorry…" Gilbert mumbled.

"A simple apology isn't enough this time! If you just keep saying sorry and I accept it, you'll never learn anything," Romano said, picking him up and carrying him back to the couch.

"A-Are you g-going to… spank m-me?" Gilbert stuttered, tears quickly filling his big red eyes.

"Spank you? What the hell… of course not! That'd just be plain weird," Romano said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. If it were an adult Prussia, he might have considered it. That guy had some really odd fetishes. Still, there was no way he'd physically harm a child.

"I was just going to take away your treats, don't jump to such conclusions."

Gilbert sighed with relief and wiped his small tears as Romano gently rubbed his head.

"And, I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just don't want you getting hurt, I'm supposed to be taking care of you and that'd make me feel like I'm doing a bad job. So, now that you've learned your lesson, do you feel better yet?"

Gilbert nodded. "Mhm… and I'm sorry, Romano," he said, in the most ridiculously adorable voice ever.

"I know you are, and you're forgiven. Veneziano has way too many vases and fancy crap, anyway," Romano chuckled, and gently kissed Gilbert's forehead.

"Well, now that everything is cleaned up, are you guys ready to go shopping?" Veneziano asked.

"Right, we're going to buy you some new clothes today, Gilbert."

"Awesome! No more sissy girly clothes!" Gilbert yelled in excitement. But, he still had to wear those 'sissy girly clothes' to the mall since he didn't have any of his own.

* * *

><p>Gilbert once again gazed in awe at the many different places they passed as they drove to the mall. He excitedly pointed to everything he found awesome and pretty much got on Romano's nerves. But, he was so very cute all the while, so Romano decided to let him enjoy this to the fullest. It's a good thing he was buckled in, or else he probably would have flown out the window.<p>

They arrived at the large shopping mall, and Romano had to tightly hold onto Gilbert's little hand because he instantly tried to dart off into another direction. Once they entered the big building of many stories high, Gilbert's excitement reached an all new level. He pointed and screamed at just about everything they passed on the way to their desired store and touched anything that he could possibly reach. Romano had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way so he wouldn't break anything valuable again.

"How about this?" Veneziano said, holding a small frilly dress, obviously for girls.

"He's a boy, he needs boy clothes. I'm not going to have him looking like a cross-dressing maid, I'm not Austria," Romano scoffed.

"But, that was only because he didn't know I was a boy!" Veneziano frowned.

"Whatever, just keep looking."

Gilbert stood nearby, bored to death as the two other nations looked for some clothes. If he had a choice, he'd much rather be at a blacksmith's shop. Then, he'd get his own personal armor made! Of course he'd need a hero cape, everyone needs one of those. After that, he could get a brand new sword since his seemed to have disappeared when he awoken in Romano's castle a couple days before. He'd also have to remember to restock on arrows. When he was done, he'd ride out into the sunset on his white steed, looking awesome in his new armor with Gilbird on his head.

"How about this one?" Veneziano said again, holding up something clearly for babies.

"Stop looking in that section, damn it! He's not a baby. Physically, he's at least five years old. Maybe even six."

"I want to wear armor!" Gilbert shouted.

Romano and Veneziano only looked over at him before laughing, amused.

"It's the 21st century, you don't just go walking around in armor. Unless you're a freak," Romano chuckled.

"Huh?"

"Never mind, you clearly have no idea what I'm saying. Hmm.. this might look good on you," he said, holding up a cute pair of pants and a shirt against Gilbert's small frame.

"He should wear something much cuter than simple clothing like that! Like this sailor outfit," Veneziano whined, holding up the blue and white outfit.

"You just want to dress him up like a damn doll. Well, he's not a doll and this is what normal kids wear! I think."

"I don't like any of these stuffs! I want armor!" Gilbert yelled, kicking a nearby basket.

"Shut the hell up, you're not getting any damn armor. And don't act like this in public, I won't show any mercy like I do when we're at home," Romano scowled, sending a wave of fear down Gilbert's body.

"Okay Romano…"

"Well then! I think he would look both cute and casual in this," Veneziano smiled, holding up an adorable sweater and a pair of capri pants.

"Whatever, let's just buy the damn stuff and get out of here. Wait, I don't know what size he wears. He'll have to try them on."

Romano dragged an unwilling Gilbert into the nearest dressing room and helped him undress. His excitement from earlier had completely died out and he stopped resisting out of exhaustion.

"When we buy this stuff, you'll stop complaining about my old 'sissy girly' clothing, right?" Romano said, pulling off the old shirt.

"If you wish," Gilbert sighed.

"If I wish? Oh come on, you were so excited earlier and now you're acting like a boring old man," he teased.

"I'm not an old man!"

"You're the oldest man in the world."

"No! You're the old man, wrinkly Romano!" Gilbert smirked.

"What? How dare you! That deserves a punishment of no treats ever again!" Romano pouted, as he poked a ticklish Gilbert in the tummy.

"Aw! Come on!"

* * *

><p>After trying on the many adorable outfits, Romano decided to buy each and every one of them because they suited him too well. Gilbert was glad when they were finally able to leave that boring store, and walked out feeling great in his new 'awesome manly' clothes. They walked around for awhile, and Gilbert was once again amazed at every little thing. Veneziano even showed him how to throw a coin in the water fountain and make a wish.<p>

"Can we do this? Oh Gilbert would love this!" Veneziano exclaimed, pointing to the nearby picture booth.

"What is that thing?" Gilbert asked, breaking away from Romano's clutches and running over to the machine.

"See what you've started? Now we have to do it or else he'll start whining." Romano glared at his cheerful brother before joining Gilbert in the booth.

"How does this work?" Gilbert smashed his tiny palms against all of the buttons on the strange machine.

"Stop or you'll break the damn thing!" Romano yelled, grabbing his hands before a random explosion would happen.

"Let's choose a pretty frame for the pictures!" Veneziano said, pushing the selections after he shoved the money inside.

"No, just a plain one will do. Now hurry up because I'm starving as hell."

"What's going to happen-" Gilbert started, but the sudden flash from the camera interrupted him.

Gilbert randomly started screaming his lungs out from the scary flash that sent him in a daze. The swirls in his eyes made him go hysterical as he tried to get out of the freaky machine. Too bad Romano held him tightly in his lap, or else he would've jumped to the moon by now.

"Stop screaming! It's just the flash, calm down!" Romano said, as Veneziano tried to help calm the screaming boy down.

Still, Gilbert continued to flip out until it was over and they were able to exit the machine.

"Damn it, money wasted. He ruined the pictures with his screaming and moving around! There isn't a single sexy shot of my face," Romano pouted, looking at the pictures that he wanted to burn.

"Well it's not his fault, he's never seen something like this before. I guess it really freaked him out," Veneziano said, gently bouncing Gilbert up and down in his arms to try and calm his sobs.

"You're right, it's all your fault. You said he'd love it and now he won't stop weeping and people are staring." Romano was definitely not pleased.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know…" And now Veneziano looked as if he wanted to cry, too.

"We don't need a second weeping child. Come on, let's go find something to eat."

Gilbert finally calmed down once they were far away from that evil mysterious machine. He demanded to be put down and walked alongside of Romano as if the previous events never even happened. He skipped, laughed, and went back to pointing at random things. That is, until he saw the most awesome thing in the whole world that deserved his attention.

"Look!" Gilbert yelled, running over to the big toy store and gluing his face to the glass, peering inside.

"Here we go again." Romano sighed and walked over to the store as Gilbert was about to enter. "Not so fast, my little runaway. We're about to get something to eat, it's lunch time. Aren't you hungry?"

"Toys! I need them! Food later, must have!" Gilbert sputtered out, almost drooling at the mouth.

"I'll make a deal with you so that this doesn't turn into the same events from last time, at the airport. I promise to take you here after we eat something at the food court. That is, IF you finish all of your food," Romano offered, as Gilbert thought of the deal in interest.

"That's easy! Come on, let's go go go!" he said, pulling Romano by the hand.

Gilbert jumped around excitedly as Romano ordered him a hot dog from one of the many eateries at the large food court. Veneziano smiled in amusement as Gilbert tried his best to gulp down the food and his child sized cup of soda. He was in such a rush to visit the awesome store that almost choked on his food, then Romano told him to slow the hell down before he had to give him the Heimlich maneuver, which Gilbert had no idea what that was so he didn't really care.

"I'm finished! Let's go!" Gilbert yelled, after he defeated his food.

"Good job. Now sit there and wait until we finish ours," Romano said, going back to slowly enjoying his Italian food.

Gilbert's little heart completely shattered into millions of pieces as the two older nations casually ate their food and chatted.

"Aw, don't look like that, Gilbert!" Veneziano said, as Gilbert was about to cry again. "We'll be done soon."

Gilbert watched intently as Romano continued to talk and occasionally took a sip of his drink. Each bite meant he would be getting closer to his destination, but the wait was just too unbearable. He rocked back and forth in his seat, then stood up from the seat and looked around the food court. It was a pretty crowded place, and everyone that walked by looked to be enjoying themselves. Suddenly, it hit him! What if those people were going to the toy store, too? They'd probably buy everything in there! Well, there was no way he'd let that happen.

He looked back up at the table and found that they were still talking about something he didn't understand, so he turned around and quickly walked off to the direction in which they had come.

"But, wouldn't it be easier if we shared the expenses?" Veneziano asked, as they were discussing something about their jobs.

"For you, maybe. Not for me, we don't have as much 'spare change' as your people do. And look at that, I'm finished eating," Romano said, wiping off the sides of his mouth and taking one last sip of his drink. "You should be happy, Gilbert."

When he looked down, Gilbert was no longer standing there. In fact, he wasn't standing anywhere.

"Gilbert?" Veneziano said, as they both stood up to look around.

Romano's eyes widened as he frantically looked from side to side. "Shit…"


	4. Gilbert's Adventure

**A/N: I think this will have 2 more chapters, then I'll be finished up. Enjoy~**

* * *

><p>Making his way down the path they had come from, Gilbert continued to be amazed by all of the people he passed. Everyone was just so big, it was hard to make out the direction he was going. While he thought he knew the way, he was actually completely unsure. But, that's what it means to be an adventurer! Sure, you may not know where you are going and there may be many obstacles along the way, but it's exciting. He knew exactly what the toy shop looked like, so now all he had to do was find it again. It'd be smooth sailing from there on, once he stepped into those heavenly doors and snatched up whatever he could reach to play with.<p>

Gilbert continued to walk on and on. People stared at him, looking down when he pushed past their legs. It was all their fault for being old giants, he told himself. Once he would get big, they would all have to look up to him instead of the other way around. He'd conquer this place of commoners and make it his own awesome territory! Surely, Veneziano wouldn't mind if he stole Venice from him, right? It'd be like a gift of friendship! He deserved it, anyway, for being such an awesome person.

"Where could you be?" Gilbert said to himself, walking along the many different stores and poking his head into each one of them.

There were so many different amazing things along the way, but he couldn't stop! This journey is a one-way ticket to paradise. He shouldn't let anything distract him from his destination. It was really hard, though, because everything was so strange and he needed to touch them. He seriously needed to!

"Oh well, maybe one stop to replenish my strength."

Gilbert waltzed into a candy store, wide eyed as he gazed among the sugary beauties. There were bags and bags of the stuff on high shelves, too bad he couldn't reach them. Curse his shortness! The many colors that surrounded him filled his big red eyes with desire. Blues, reds, yellows, greens, pinks; everything was so colorful! What he wanted most were those delicious lollipops of rainbow color. They were so big, much bigger than his hands and mouth combined. He knew they were sweet, and he needed them; for his journey, of course!

He reached his small, pale hands up to the stand that held those succulent treats. Once again, he was too short. Why has he been cursed with this unbearable height? His body was filled up with awesomeness but the only thing missing was a couple feet. It didn't make sense, it was illogical. He jumped and jumped but still couldn't reach it. If only he had his sword along with him, he'd slice the stick in half to make it drop to his feet.

"Arms of awesome strength and glory, why must you betray me with your shortness!" Gilbert whined, cursing his little arms. "And the same goes to you, great legs of mine!"

He looked around to find many other people in the store, casually picking out everything they wanted. Small children with their parents wore smiles on their faces as they held their delicious treats. Damn them for having such companions! Romano would probably never have given him any of this stuff. He'd have no choice but to get it on his own.

Alas, he had found a tool! There was a long brown stick with many little prickly things sprouting from the roots. Perhaps this would be of some service to him, since it was even taller than he was! Gilbert quickly walked over to the back of the shop and picked it up. It was light and made out of wood, so it would definitely suit his needs. It had a bit of dust on the prickly side but he carried it over to the lollipops anyway. He steadily aimed for the one he wanted and poked it with the stick. It missed, so he tried again. He continued to move it until it looked like it was about to fall off of the thing holding it up.

Suddenly, the long stick was snatched from his hands. He turned around the find a woman standing there and staring at him as if he was some sort of odd creature. Well, she better show some respect because he's a knight!

This woman was actually the owner of the store, and she was wondering why the hell some little foreign boy was using her broom to hit lollipops. When she began speaking to him, Gilbert just gazed at her in confusion and a little bit of fear. Well, the little boy obviously didn't speak Italian so she tried to think up something in English. Hopefully, he would understand something.

"Where is your mami?" she said.

Gilbert blinked at her and then began to laugh.

"Romano is not a girl! And Vati is away conquering the world! If you're here, does that mean you're uncle Italy's servant?"

The owner stared at him in confusion, only understanding a few of those words. This was extremely bothersome to her now. A little boy was lost in her shop and he didn't speak Italian, nor were his parents anywhere around. After thinking for a second, she picked him up, much to his dismay, and set him on the counter near the register. She decided to call the security in hopes of them coming to pick him up, then he'd wait in the office for his parents to get him.

"I don't fight girls, but lady, you're ruining my quest!" Gilbert shouted, when she finally got off the phone.

She smiled sympathetically and handed him a piece of candy. And well, that shut him up. Still, bribery wouldn't stop him from continuing on his awesome adventure for toys and world domination! He shoved the sweet piece of candy into his mouth and hopped off the counter when she wasn't looking. He quickly dashed out of the shop and walked into the big crowd once more.

* * *

><p>Once again people bumped into him and stared as if he was some sort of alien. The journey was getting tough because he was now thirsty, but he continued on. If only he had a steed to ride, then he'd make his way twice as fast. But, his grandfather never let him ride any horses without his supervision, so that wouldn't work here, either. Once again, his eyes caught the sight of yet another interesting store. This time, he would sneak in so no one would stop his adventures.<p>

Gilbert stealthily walked into the pet store and gazed at all of the wonderful creatures. There were birds, rabbits, hamsters, and snakes in different parts of the place. Sadly, they were all locked in cages and whatnot, so he couldn't go hunting. He wasn't hungry right now anyway so there was no need for that. The animals were pretty loud, so no one really noticed when he walked up to a bunch of the cages and stuck his hand in them.

"Gilbird?" Gilbert gasped when he saw a yellow bird that looked almost exactly like his own.

He ran over to the low bird cage and stared at the wonderful creature. Maybe it was a relative of Gilbird's! That would explain the resemblance. The bird stared back at him and chirped innocently, it was just as cute as Gilbird, too!

"Hi! You know Gilbird, right?" he said to the bird. The bird chirped back, so he assumed that was a yes.

"Well, it's your lucky day! I'm the Awesome Gilbert, and Gilbird is my loyal companion. Nice to meet ya!"

Gilbert smiled brightly and stuck a couple fingers into the cage to pet the bird, which was an obvious mistake. The bird stared at those little fingers before furiously pecking at them as if they were food. And well, that sudden shock really hurt, so Gilbert snatched his fingers back and yelped in pain. What a traitor!

"Ow! I thought you were Gilbird's friend!" he cried, sucking his fingers to try and calm the pain.

The evil little bird chirped happily as if it was mocking his humiliation.

"You're lucky I don't have my sword, or else you'd be chicken stew!"

Gilbert whirled around, feeling betrayed. Just about everyone in the little pet shop was staring at him now. His cover was blown, so he casually walked out as if none of that had even happened. They were all just wondering why he was talking to a bird, it was kind of cute, though. Too bad that bird was a bastard and a traitor!

"Gilbert!" Romano and Veneziano called out. They looked all around the food court but the little troublemaker was no where in sight. Neither of them had seen which direction he took off at, and it had already been quite a few minutes since they began their search.

"Where the hell could he have gone? Damn it, what if something happens to him! Gah!" Romano yelled out in frustration. His head was pounding with worries and he couldn't think straight at all.

"Don't worry! We'll find him, we will! He couldn't have gone too far, right?" Veneziano said. This was the first time it had been Romano that was flipping out instead of him. Well, he was flipping out too but not as much. He tried to stay as calm as he could so that at least one of them could think straight.

"This is all my fault, I should have been watching him more closely! Now he's lost somewhere, and he's probably so scared… what should we do?"

"Um… we'll go to security! Yeah, and they'll help us!" Veneziano tried his best to smile and patted Romano on the back.

"They will? Are you sure?"

"Of course! We're all here to help each other out! And we're nations, there's no doubt that they'll do their best to help us out!"

"Alright, if you say so…"

* * *

><p>The journey was getting fierce. There was no mercy on the battlefield. He was parched, and his little feet were tired of walking fast. Gilbert decided to slow down his pace to save energy, but this method wouldn't last for long. He needed more stamina, so he walked into a nearby shop and hoped there would be water and a place to rest for a little while.<p>

This place was really big, and was more like an extended section instead of a shop. Many strange contraptions filled the area and he needed to touch them all. He discreetly walked over to one of the shelves to make sure none of the enemies would spot him. He picked up a CD case and examined it. It sort of looked good, but it didn't have a smell so he decided not to bite into it. He walked around a little more and came across many different books on bigger shelves. It seemed he was in some sort of book shop.

Finally, he came across the one thing that he needed! He quickly ran up to the snack bar and grabbed one of the cool water bottles out of the refrigerated machine that he was able to reach. The cool droplets on the side of the bottle made his dry lips happy. Before he could open it, however, an enemy appeared!

The man stared at him for a few seconds before asking him a question. Well, it seemed like a question because he waited for a reply before speaking again. These giant enemies speak such a complicated language, Gilbert didn't understand a word that was coming out of the man's mouth. It sounded a little like what the candy shop lady was speaking.

"If you are trying to start a fight, then go ahead! I never lose," Gilbert said, setting the water bottle down and getting into his battle stance.

The man continued to stare at him for a few seconds, wondering what the hell he was doing. But, he didn't make a move so he must have been too scared. After all, Gilbert had such awesome fighting skills, there was no way some mere commoner would defeat him!

"That's what I thought," Gilbert smirked, and picked up the bottle of water again.

Before he could open it, the man grabbed it from him and shook his head, then waved a finger.

"That's mine! I need it!" Gilbert whined, and jumped for the bottle.

"Money," the man finally said.

Gilbert grumbled and stomped his feet. "When I come back to invade this place, I'm taking you as a prisoner first!"

He stormed out, defeated, and slowly began to walk again. Now he had no idea where he was going, and couldn't get anything to drink. Damn all these people for being so big and mean! If only Romano were here, he'd make them surrender and then we would conquer them together, he sighed as he thought to himself. Romano wasn't that bad, sure he yelled a lot and always took away his treats, but he understood him and always did things for him. He'd make a good companion, even if he couldn't fight and wasn't as awesome as Gilbert.

He was about to give up and start crying when he heard something in the sky say his name! Then it began describing the way he looked and what he was wearing. It repeated his name again and then suddenly stopped talking. Gilbert looked up and was suddenly filled with hope.

"Is that… is that you, almighty gods in the heavens above?" he yelled up to the sky. "If you're calling me then, I must not give up! I am too awesome to ever give up! Thank you for your encouragement!"

Now he felt as if he could conquer the world with ease! Determined, he quickly made his way in whichever direction he was going. As if the voice from above had blessed him with good luck, he finally spotted the toy shop! It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, too.

"Finally! I've found you," he yelled excitedly.

Finally, he'd be able to enjoy himself in that huge, strange place. He ran towards the entrance, but suddenly bumped into something and fell onto the ground. He looked up to see a very big man standing in his way. He was wearing some weird badge, so that must've meant he was the final boss and fiercest enemy of this journey! Gilbert nervously stood up to face him, and just like the people before him, he began to speak in that odd language.

"I'm not scared of you! But, you should fear my awesome wrath!" Gilbert took a deep breath and charged at the large man.

Before he realized it, he was floating in the air. The man effortlessly picked him up and was now carrying him off; away from his long awaited destination!

"Noooo! Put me down, now! Don't make me unleash my full strength!" Gilbert whined, weakly pounding his fists against the man's big body.

"Calm down, child." The man fished out the walky-talky in his pocket. "I found him."

At least this man could speak the same language. Even so, he was an evil bastard that was going to feel Gilbert's awesome wrath if he didn't put him down soon! None of his efforts worked, however, and he found himself being carried further and further away from his beloved toy shop. Small tears of despair began to escape his eyes and his vision blurred.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked through his tears. Wherever he was being carried off to, it wasn't good. He'd probably get tortured and turned into a slave! Then he'd have to serve weird food to some master that didn't even speak the same language as him, while wearing shackles that hurt his soft skin.

"Gilbert!" came a familiar voice. Suddenly, the man put him back onto the ground and turned him around.

"This is the boy?" the man said.

Gilbert looked up at Romano who seemed pissed off, far more than usual. It was frightening.

"Never seen him before in my life," Romano scoffed, shaking his head.

"Romano! It's me, Gilbert! I'm sorry, so please don't let this guy take me away!" Gilbert pleaded, and wrapped all of his limbs around Romano's legs.

"Yes, he's ours. And thank you so much for all of your help," Veneziano said, as the security man walked off. Veneziano looked almost as serious and scornful as Romano did, which was strange because he always smiled at Gilbert before, and now Gilbert was a bit scared of him.

Feeling safe again, Gilbert stood before two angry looking Italians. He nervously twiddled his fingers and stared down to the ground.

"I…" he started.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Romano suddenly said, quickly kneeling down and pulling Gilbert into a tight hug.

"Romano?" Gilbert didn't really know how to react, since he half expected to be disowned.

"You have no idea how worried we were. Don't you ever, ever walk away from me again, do you understand?" Romano tightly gripped Gilbert's shoulder, the stern expression never leaving his face.

"This isn't a place to run around alone in, Gilbert," Veneziano said, faintly smiling down at him.

"I understand… and I'm sorry." Well, now he supposed his chances of visiting the toy shop were in the negatives.

"We're going home now, and we're going to have a long talk when we get there," Romano said, which sent shivers down Gilbert's spine. He grabbed his little hand and they began walking towards the exit.

* * *

><p>The ride home was a silent one. Gilbert may have been completely oblivious to the damage he'd done the days before, but now he knew it was over this time. He could feel the tension in the car as Romano drove home, and he wished it would take years before they got there. He wasn't ready for whatever was to come, and he couldn't help but feel like he screwed up even more than when he had broken the vase earlier that day.<p>

When they arrived, Gilbert gulped when Romano pulled him into the bedroom and Veneziano went into the living room to sit on the couch. He sat on the bed, intently listening to the long lecture Romano was calmly giving him. He didn't understand some of the things Romano was saying, but he could tell that he was severely disappointed and upset with him. After Romano finished talking, he gave Gilbert a hug before sending him out of the room.

Gilbert sighed with relief and joined Veneziano on the couch, now completely exhausted.

"You know, Gilbert, you really scared us this afternoon. You may be awesome but you have to remember that you're still a kid," Veneziano said.

"I know, Romano said the same thing… does he hate me now?" Gilbert asked, turning to face Veneziano. His big red eyes were drowned with tears and his bottom lip began to quiver in fear.

"Of course not! He loves you dearly, and I love you, too. It's just, he was very upset and the events today added onto his stress, you know?" Veneziano tried to explain, smiling as he wiped Gilbert's tears. "The economy has been really wacky for awhile now, and it's causing a lot of trouble for us nations. Then, he also has to take care of you now and it's really been a lot of work, he's got high blood pressure, I think."

Gilbert stared at Veneziano, completely confused and not understanding a word that had just been said to him.

"Oh, right. You don't understand that stuff. Basically, Romano is really tired so try not to make too much trouble, okay?"

For some reason, Gilbert still felt uneasy. He was sure that Romano really was going to spank him this time, but all he did was talk. He didn't even yell, either! If whatever Veneziano said was true, then Romano must've been really tired after all. Gilbert wished he could have given some of his awesome powers to Romano, then maybe he'd have more energy!

"How do we make him happy? I want to," Gilbert said.

"Hm… how about we make him a delicious treat?" Veneziano smiled and led Gilbert into the kitchen.

"A treat?" Gilbert watched as Veneziano grabbed an apron and put it on.

"Yup! He likes sweet things, and I make some for him whenever he's mad at me!" Veneziano searched around for the smallest apron he could find and tied it around Gilbert's waist. It had cute little polka dots on it and made Gilbert look so much more adorable.

"Ohhhh… I see, I didn't know it worked that way. Okay, wurst!" Gilbert excitedly opened the fridge and looked for anything shaped like a sausage.

"Actually! He doesn't like… I mean, we're going to make him a little cake!"

Veneziano pulled out the carton of eggs and set it on the counter. He walked over to the hallway and grabbed the short stool for Gilbert to stand on, then placed it in front of the counter. After picking Gilbert up and setting him on the stool, he brought out a measuring cup and a box of cake mix.

"In fact, you're going to make it! I'll supervise you," he smiled, then handed Gilbert the box.

"Of course, I know how to do this!" Gilbert stared intently at the box but seriously had no idea what it even was. "Just, tell me what to do first. Only because I want to know if you share my awesome knowledge."

"First, you open the box and the bag inside of it. Then, pour it into this bowl."

As if he was performing plastic surgery, Gilbert slowly and carefully did just what he was told to. Veneziano handed him the measuring glass with a little water in it, and he once again carefully poured it into the bowl. This was a piece of cake, literally! He was already so awesome at this, and he didn't even know what he was trying to make. But, it was turning out alright so far.

"Now the eggs, just two is fine." Veneziano handed him one of the eggs and used the other one to show him how to crack it open.

"That's easy, so I just do this?" Gilbert smacked the egg against the side of the bowl with too much force, causing it to crack into his hand instead of inside the bowl.

"Ah! I ruined it!" he yelled, watching as the yellow goo from the yolk slid down his hand.

"No, you didn't ruin it! We'll just crack another, just be a bit more gentle." Veneziano laughed as he helped Gilbert clean himself before cracking another egg. This time, he did it perfectly and after a couple minutes they had successfully finished the preparation and put it into the oven to bake.

"I'm so awesome at this, and it's my first time! When will it be finished?"

"In about 30 or so minutes. And you did a wonderful job!" Veneziano kneeled down and placed a chaste kiss on Gilbert's forehead.

* * *

><p>Gilbert impatiently waited for the cake to be finished, and stared at the timer Veneziano had given him the entire time. After noticing a sweet smell, Romano awoken from his light nap and left the room. At least it wasn't the smell of fire, for he sometimes greatly feared that he'd wake up to a blazing room because of Gilbert's recklessness. But, he had also feared that when Prussia first moved into his house back in Sicily.<p>

"What's that smell?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as he began walking into the kitchen.

"Access denied!" Gilbert quickly stood in front of him with his arms and legs spread out so Romano wouldn't get by him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You can't go in there yet! Not until the thing makes a beep sound!" Gilbert stood his ground and imitated Romano's puffed cheeks.

"And why not?" Romano began to grow both impatient and suspicious of Gilbert's sudden behavior.

"He wants it to be a surprise! So why don't you watch TV until we're ready to show you?" Veneziano interrupted, as he pulled Romano into the living room and shoved him onto the couch.

"Whatever! This better be good."

About ten minutes later, Gilbert's little timer went off and Veneziano helped him put the icing on the cake once it cooled off a little. He was so excited to decorate it, that he used every single different color of icing and things like sprinkles and fondant. Once they were finished with that monstrosity, Gilbert eagerly led Romano by the hand into the dining room and shoved him in the chair.

"It's awesome, right? Right!" Gilbert chimed, as Romano stared at the cake. One bite of it would probably instantly give him a toothache, and his eyes were beginning to hurt from the excessive coloring.

"What is this?" he asked, when Gilbert handed him a big slice.

"It's a cake! Uncle Italy said it's an awesome cake, too!" Gilbert watched intently as Romano slowly took a bite.

"Gilbert made it all by himself! I only supervised."

Well, that definitely didn't make the cake any less frightening. Romano sighed and chewed the bits of cake in his mouth. It was actually quite delicious, since the inside was very moist and warm. It completely overshadowed the sugary outside.

"It's to make you happy! Are you happy yet?" Gilbert impatiently waited for an answer as Romano took many more bites.

"It's very good… I'm proud of you." Romano used a finger to wipe some of the icing off of the cake and onto Gilbert's nose.

"Hey! Not on my nose!" Gilbert pouted, and tried to lick the icing from his nose which was obviously impossible.

"Yay! I'm glad everyone is happy now!" Veneziano joined in on the fun and dabbed some of the icing onto Romano's cheek.

Romano grumbled and did the same to his brother. They then proceeded to have a little icing fight before each of them sat down and enjoyed the small cake together. Gilbert once again felt at ease when he saw Romano smile, and for a short moment he felt a slight cringe in his chest. He continued to devour his awesome cake and hoped that tomorrow he'd be able to have yet another awesome adventure. This time, he'd make sure Romano was there by his side as a companion.


	5. Gilbert and the Carnival

Romano yawned and gently ran his fingers through the fuzzy white hair of the small boy sitting in his lap. At least Gilbert wasn't especially hyper this morning, he only sat still and drank his milk from the little cup in his tiny hands. It was rather early, and they were watching some random cartoons since he figured Gilbert would like that best. But, Gilbert obviously couldn't understand a word being said since every channel was in Italian. He still pointed at random things every now and again, asking what they were and why he couldn't have them. Soon enough, Veneziano would walk into the living room and join them.

"Romano, what is that?" Gilbert asked, probably for the tenth time.

Romano sighed and plucked a single strand of hair from Gilbert's head. "It's a train, now just watch the damn screen."

"Are you going to get me one of those?" Gilbert smiled excitedly up at Romano.

"Hell no."

Gilbert pouted. "Aw! You're mean."

"Yup."

Gilbert continued to stare at this weird box with moving pictures on it. It was very hypnotizing and even had sound coming out of it. He didn't know what was going on, but the little characters looked so awesome, he almost wished he were one. His eyes still had to get used to it, though, because the sudden changing of lighting and scenes gave him a little headache. When the commercials came on, that definitely sparked his interest and curiosity.

"Look, it's a princess!" Gilbert jumped from Romano's lap and off the couch. He ran up to the TV and pointed at all the people in costumes.

"Don't put your hands on the screen!" Romano warned, just before the kid touched it.

"What's he so excited about?" Veneziano asked, as he walked into the living room and sat on the couch next to Romano.

"Some stupid costume commercial for the carnival."

"It's a knight!" Gilbert laughed and stared up at the wonderful sight before him. Since he obviously didn't know what an advertisement was, he was completely enchanted by the different costumes and funny masks on the screen. This place looked far more awesome than the mall he got lost in.

"Don't stand too close." Romano stood up and dragged an unwilling Gilbert back to the couch before placing him in his lap and sitting down again.

"Romano, I need to be a knight! I need that stuff on the picture," Gilbert said, still pointing to the TV.

"You should take him to the carnival this evening! Gilbert would love that, I'm positive!" Veneziano smiled and handed Gilbert a small cookie, since he was still making grabby hands.

"I was planning on catching the next flight to Sicily, which is this afternoon. He doesn't need to go to a damn carnival, he's still on punishment for making me worried sick yesterday." Romano shot a disappointing glare at Gilbert, who frowned apologetically and clenched his sleeve.

"B-but, I said I was sorry, remember? And, we made you a cake!"

"It was a good cake… but, that doesn't excuse you for your reckless behavior!"

"I need to be a knight! Please, Romano! Please?" Gilbert's bottom lip trembled and that cute little face was just too adorable to resist. Damn him for being such a cute child!

"Fine! We'll go to the stupid carnival, but we're catching the first plane back home in the morning. And you!" Romano irritably turned to Veneziano, who was smiling with glee. "You're coming with us, since it was your idea!"

Veneziano still wore a smile and shook his head. "Can't, sorry! I have work today. Such a shame, since today is the first day of the carnival! But, this is very important and I must get going soon."

Romano sighed and flicked his brother in the forehead. "I should've known you would somehow get out of this."

As much fun as the carnival was, both Romano and Veneziano had been to it many times, almost every year in fact. They'd watched how the traditions changed throughout history, but it wasn't a big surprise every time. Now, visiting the carnival in Venice each year was like an average visit to the park with shiny things and people in extravagant costumes wearing masks. The only part they really enjoyed was seeing the joy it brought to their people and how much fun everyone was having. He supposed he would make the sacrifice this time, since he had promised to visit the carnival with Prussia one day. Who knew he'd end up going with Gilbert instead.

"Yes! Where is my armor? I need to dress as the awesome knight now!" Gilbert cheered and ran around the room like a wild animal.

"Calm down, dammit. We'll go to the costume store and get you one, since I have nothing here."

* * *

><p>After they were dressed and ready, Romano threw Gilbert into the car like luggage and they made their way to the nearest costume store. It was a little hard to concentrate on driving, since Gilbert was bouncing up and down in the little toddler car seat that they borrowed from the neighbors. But, it was extremely adorable how he was so excited to get a simple costume. It stopped being adorable when they almost wrecked, though.<p>

As soon as they got there, Gilbert almost flew out of the car from anticipation. Romano was glad to have also borrowed the child leash so that the little rascal couldn't run off without getting lunged back from the elastic band. Romano walked over to the children's section and was almost regretful to choose this store. Small children ran around everywhere, picking out random costumes and throwing them all on the floor while parents ignored their existence. He sighed and shook his head, then walked over to the mini crowd to find something as quickly as possible.

Most of the costumes were of clowns and animated characters, so he continued to rummage through them until he found one that at least remotely looked to be one that Gilbert would like. It was the perfect size, too, so he turned around and showed it to the boy.

"Hey?" he said, when Gilbert only stood there, silently staring up at the ceiling.

"Huh? Oh. Romano… that's not armor," Gilbert frowned and crossed his arms at the lame excuse that wasn't even metal.

"They don't have real armor here, so deal with it." Romano shoved the pieces of cloth into Gilbert's arms and began walking towards the check-out area.

"But, if I am to fight, I will easily get injured in this weak cloth!"

Romano groaned. "Listen, I already told you -"

But, the look in Gilbert's eyes told him that it was useless to explain again. Romano stood, staring at the smaller figure who had his arms crossed and glared angrily up at him. He had to admit, an angry Gilbert was actually a cute one. He shook his head to try and ignore the cuteness, then kneeled down to Gilbert's eye level. Perhaps if he spoke the kid's language again, they would be able to leave this hectic store without any further problems.

"Tell me, what does it mean to be a knight?" he asked.

Gilbert gave Romano a look as if what he'd just asked was the stupidest thing ever to be said.

"Well, obviously, you have to be strong! And brave. You have to know how to fight even the biggest monsters out there, and protect the citizens at the same time!" Gilbert smiled and flexed his muscles.

"That's true. But, what else?"

What else? Well, what else was there? Gilbert had listed everything he knew about knights and everything he found to be most important. A knight definitely has to eat tons of good food to build strength, and save the princess when needed. He had to honor his king and protect the kingdom from destruction. And lastly, he obviously had to be awesome!

"Um… a knight has to be awesome, like me!"

Romano laughed and ruffled Gilbert's hair. "That's true, but they also have to have a big heart. If you don't have that, then everything else is useless," he said, and softly poked Gilbert's chest.

"Oh… I see. I have plenty of heart, though. Probably even more than you."

"I doubt that. I'm known to be quite the ladies man. Even the guys can't resist this Italian piece of -" But then Romano remembered he was speaking to a child.

"Whatever you just said, I'm sure it can't be as awesome as I am," Gilbert scoffed.

"So persistent. Well then, prove it."

Gilbert thought for a second, then smiled and wrapped his arms around Romano's neck to hug him. His lips couldn't help but curve into a smile, as he automatically hugged the boy back. Are all children this warm and soft? It made Romano feel all fuzzy inside, which was kind of weird, so he quickly stood back up after the little hug.

"I suppose you do have heart," he said.

"See, I told you! No one has more heart than I do!" Gilbert laughed and followed Romano to the short line of people.

"Yeah, yeah. But, fighting and protecting people aren't the only things knights do. They need to have fun, too. So, let's have fun this evening, alright?"

"Right!"

* * *

><p>Gilbert continued his excited chatter as they walked out of the store and drove away in the car. He went on and on about how knights with big hearts have fun while slaying dragons and being awesome. It almost drove Romano crazy how much this kid could talk nonstop, but at least he wasn't yelling or crying. Romano couldn't stand whiny little babies the most.<p>

"So, how big is the dragon that will be there? I might need your backup, lackey."

"Hey, I thought you were the henchman!" Romano pouted. "There will be no dragons. Just people."

"What? Then why are we going? How will I prove my strength if there is nothing to fight!"

Romano sighed and rolled his eyes as he made a sharp left turn down the busy street. He couldn't believe that this kid still thought they were going to be fighting something after all. No matter how many times he'd explained it, none of it seemed to get to Gilbert's tiny little head that this was just a fun event. He quickly glanced over to his side and caught a glimpse of Gilbert's saddened face. Romano really didn't like that face, and he didn't mean to make him sad just because there wouldn't be any strange monsters to kill at a damn carnival.

"Hey, don't make that face," he said, but Gilbert stilled frowned and stared at the floor of the car.

"Look, you don't have to prove anything. I know you're strong, everyone does. You're… the strongest! So smile, dammit. That expression doesn't suit you."

"Okay," Gilbert sighed.

Somehow that didn't work, even though Romano was sure it would! Gilbert seemed like he'd been on an emotional rollercoaster that entire morning, it was giving Romano a headache. Something inside of him wanted to reach over and gently stroke the child's head, but suddenly Gilbert looked up out of the window and smiled.

"What is that place? Let's go! It's so shiny!" he exclaimed, pointing towards the big 'M' sign.

"Oh god, no. Of all the beautiful places with extravagant cuisines in this entire country, you choose that?" Romano cringed at the hideous sight of one of the few McDonald's there in his home. It was like a disgrace to his people, putting up an American fast food restaurant when there are so many fancy, quality places to eat. He almost wanted to blow it up.

"Can we, Romano? Please?" Gilbert begged.

When Romano stayed silent and they drove by it, he nearly cried. How could they simply pass by something so awesome? Romano was a big meanie and a jerk! He'd never bake him another awesome cake again. But, seeing the greatly depressed look on Gilbert's face, Romano groaned and made a quick U-turn to take him to the gross restaurant.

"You're getting a damn happy meal, and you're going to eat all of it! Or else, no carnival."

"I will, I promise!"

Gilbert quickly gobbled down his little chicken nuggets when they arrived back home. Romano shook his head in disgust, wondering how the hell he could possibly enjoy such a monstrosity. He watched as Gilbert played for hours with the little toy he got from the meal. He practically didn't let go of the action figure for the rest of the day, even when it came time to visit the carnival.

"What's wrong now? You've been acting weird all day, happy one minute and gloomy the next," Romano frowned, as he helped Gilbert put on his little costume.

"I just don't feel as awesome as I usually do," Gilbert said, and yawned exhaustedly.

"Well, do you want to stay here? Today isn't the only day the carnival is happening, we can always -"

"No! We have to go! I am the knight!" he protested, with great determination in his eyes.

"Alright, we'll go. So keep your chin up."

Gilbert quickly nodded and unexpectedly gave Romano another hug.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"A knight has heart, remember?"

Romano laughed and took Gilbert by the hand, leading him out of the house.

* * *

><p>Despite promising to take Gilbert to the carnival, Romano had no idea where they'd start. It had to be somewhere awesome enough so that the little boy wouldn't complain or be bored, but Romano didn't want to go all around the entire damn city, either. All the while he began to go into complex thoughts about their outing, as Gilbert happily walked along and tightly held onto his hand.<p>

Finally, he got the perfect idea! Of course he'd take him to the most obvious tourist spot, where many people were bound to be doing plenty of fun things. Good thing Veneziano's home wasn't too far from it, so they wouldn't have to walk a long distance. Damn that idiot for having work to do! It was his city, he should be the one that has to walk around with a child all evening. And he should be the one to give the tour, because Romano was certainly not interested.

Once they finally came upon the _Piazza__San__Marco__, _Romano almost fainted at the vast amount of people that already flooded the place. How was this possible? It was an outside area, so there was no need for it to be this cramped. He decided to just deal with it, since it's not like he'd ever have to again. He looked down to his side and cheered up a little when he saw the amazed expression on Gilbert's little face.

Wherever they were, it was outrageously dangerous. All of these mysterious people had on such odd costumes, and even had creepy things covering their faces! Gilbert didn't know if he should've been frightened or amazed, so he just continued to stare at the huge crowd. He looked up at Romano who also seemed struck by the crowd, and decided that at this moment, he needed to be brave. If any of these odd monsters was going to attack, they had to get through him first!

"Relax, these are just ordinary people that are here to have fun," Romano said, once Gilbert jumped in front of him and got into his battle stance.

"But, Romano!"

Romano sighed and pulled him along by the hand. They walked around for a short while, watching as many different people posed for pictures to show off their magnificent costumes. It was all very interesting, but not exactly something that a small child like Gilbert would understand and appreciate. Suddenly, Romano spotted something that might spark Gilbert's interest.

"I have an idea. Do you want to get your face painted?" he asked.

Gilbert stared at him in confusion, so he decided to just lead him over to the face painter. Romano gently placed Gilbert on the empty stool that sat before a man with another one of those weird masks. This guy wasn't as freaky as some of the other people, but Gilbert still wanted to stab him in the gut. Too bad he didn't have a sword, even though he was in his clothed armor.

"What would you like me to paint, brave knight?" said the man, and smiled towards Gilbert.

"How about a dragon?" Romano suggested, when Gilbert only stared at the stranger.

Gilbert slowly nodded and the man began to lightly brush his right cheek with a paintbrush. It sort of tickled, and he couldn't help but giggle a bit. Romano stood by and watched, hoping Gilbert was actually having fun now so he wouldn't be wasting his time. But, seeing Gilbert cheerfully swing his legs while patiently sitting on the stool told him that maybe the kid was actually having a bit of fun.

After a few minutes, the man was done and showed Gilbert what it looked like in the small hand mirror. Gilbert was ecstatic then, and quickly showed Romano his awesome dragon. If any of the mysterious people in masks tried anything funny, he'd use his dragon attack on them to protect Romano!

"It's awesome, isn't it?" Gilbert asked, as they began walking again.

"Yes, for the thousandth time."

"You should've gotten a dragon, too! Then we'd be twice as powerful."

"Grown-ups like me don't do such childish things," he said, and ruffled Gilbert's hair.

"I'm not a child, I'm a knight - Oh!" Gilbert suddenly broke away from Romano's hand and ran towards a nearby circle of people.

"Wait, Gilbert!" Romano grumbled and quickly followed after him. If the brat got lost again, he sword he'd dump Gilbert in the sea when he was found.

Gilbert ran up to a beautiful woman who wore a dress that looked as if it were straight out of the Renaissance. He lightly tugged on the cloth to get her attention. She looked down and smiled at him, her mask wasn't nearly as freaky as the many other people that wore one, so Gilbert wasn't afraid.

"Dammit, Gilbert. What did I tell you about running away from me?" Romano snarled, when he approached them.

"Romano, look! It's the princess, I found her!" Gilbert smiled and did his victory pose.

"I'm sorry, he's… got a big imagination." Romano swooped Gilbert up from the ground and into his arms.

"It's alright, he's a cute little knight. Would you like to take pictures with me?" said the woman.

"Yes!" Gilbert answered, even though he had no idea what that meant.

Romano sighed. "Well, maybe - Actually, we have to get going. Enjoy your evening."

He quickly walked off with the squirming boy in his arms, remembering how Gilbert had went hysterical the day before from the flashing of the camera inside of the photo booth. There was no way in hell he'd go through that monstrosity again, and didn't want to ever see Gilbert weeping as if he'd been tortured.

"You don't simply run up to people like that, and you don't leave my side. I told you this yesterday, remember?" Romano began to scold him, as they walked toward the stands that sold snacks and souvenirs.

"I know, but this was different! She's the princess." Gilbert rested his head on Romano's shoulder and yawned.

"She's not a damn princess. And, I thought you said girls were icky?"

"Oh, they are! But, she's a princess."

"She's not… and, princesses are girls, too. Don't you know that?" Romano asked.

"Um, no. A princess is a princess. Geez, Romano, get your stuff straight." Gilbert chuckled and shook his head. Romano sure was an idiot!

"Whatever. Here, eat this and shut up." Romano shoved a chocolate Nutella cookie he'd just bought into Gilbert's mouth.

Gilbert chewed the newfound substance in his mouth and smiled. He then held out his hand for another one, which Romano handed to him after he said the magical words 'thank you' and 'please'.

"Romano! These are good!" Gilbert exclaimed, and shoved a piece into Romano's mouth.

"I know, I know! So don't try to choke me."

"Put me down now, I want to walk." Gilbert began squirming again in Romano's grasp, trying his best to reach the ground that seemed so many feet below him.

"Will you promise not to run away again?"

"Sure."

"Gilbert."

"I mean, yes I promise. Okay Romano?"

Once he was on the ground again, Gilbert walked alongside Romano as he finished the small bag of delicious cookies. As they continued walking around the area, Gilbert was happy to see some people juggling, and he even got an animal shaped balloon! Of course, he popped it right afterwards, but he was able to get another one so it was alright. Romano was surprisingly having just as much fun, and he decided it would only be natural to take Gilbert on a gondola ride. After all, who goes to Venice and skips out on that?

"I don't think this is a good idea…" Gilbert stared, horrified into the dark waters below them.

"Nonsense, it's perfectly safe." Romano lifted him onto the boat and sat him down into the seat by his side. It was a little painful how Gilbert tightly held onto his arm, squeezing it as the boat began to drift out into the sea. After a minute, he finally got used to the floaty feeling and loosened his grip, to Romano's relief.

"See, I told you it's not that bad," he said, and wrapped his arm around Gilbert's tiny waist.

"I guess. I'm used to awesome stuff like this, ever since we went on that evil big bird." Gilbert frowned and shuddered from the thought.

"It's called an airplane. But, yes. You're very brave, Mr. Knight."

"That's Mr. Awesome Knight to you!"

Romano laughed and leaned back to enjoy the ride. It was still expensive, even if he was a nation, but it was worthwhile. Gilbert was having a wonderful time, so he supposed that this little outing wasn't a waste or boring after all. Everything that he'd already seen for decades now, seemed so new this time. Perhaps because he'd seen it from a different perspective alongside Gilbert.

They chattered about nonsense, gazed up at the beautiful night sky, and looked around at all of their surroundings. The lively city lights reflected off of the water, it was truly an amazing discovery to Gilbert's big red eyes. He was protestant when their time was up, and they had to start walking again. His little feet had a hard time carrying him now, so he slowly walked just a little behind Romano.

"Getting tired?" he asked, waiting for Gilbert to catch up.

"Nope! Knights last… forever! I'm just saving… energy." Gilbert inhaled deeply and picked his pace.

"Suit yourself."

Gilbert huffed and puffed, his pace suddenly becoming slower until he had completely stopped. Romano supposed he must've been worn out from their long day, so he quickly picked the exhausted child up and carried him on his back as they made their way back to Veneziano's house.

"I said I'm not tired!" Gilbert yelled weakly.

"Shut up, I know you're not tired. I'm… your loyal steed. Alright?" Romano didn't know what the hell he was saying, so he just figured he'd say whatever.

Gilbert accepted this gesture as a favor, so he wrapped his arms around Romano's neck and leaned against his back to rest. He felt tired beyond belief, and he slowly began drifting off to sleep from Romano's slow walking which soothed him.

"Thanks for taking me here, Vati," he said, as his eyelids dropped from feeling too heavy.

"Huh? Vati?" Romano had no idea where that suddenly came from.

"I mean, Romano. I had fun," Gilbert whispered.

"Oh, it was nothing. You'll get lots of rest tonight, we have to leave early to catch our flight back home."

But, Gilbert was already sound asleep on his back. Romano smiled to himself as he turned the corner to their desired neighborhood.

"Goodnight, Gilbert… perhaps tomorrow will be 'awesome', too."

Even so, nothing could have prepared him for what was to come.


	6. Gilbert, Romano, and the Miracle

**A/N: The last chapter! I give my dearest apologies for how long it took for this to come out. There was the dreaded writers block, laziness, school, and even an illness at one point. Ah, but here it is! Please forgive any mistakes.**

* * *

><p>The next morning, Romano woke up as early as possible. He would probably flip out and raise his blood pressure if they missed the first plane back to Sicily. It's not like he absolutely had anything important to do, and he didn't necessarily have to take the first plane since there would obviously be more throughout the day. He just couldn't take staying in someone else's home for so long, especially since it was Veneziano's. His city was beautiful and attracted an infinite amount of tourists, so maybe Romano was just a little, tiny bit jealous. But mostly, he just wanted to make sure his house wasn't destroyed by Gilbird yet.<p>

"Come on, Gilbert. It's time to wake up."

Romano yawned and gently shook the sleeping boy next to him. Usually the little adorable troublemaker awoken first, but he must have been exhausted from the previous night's adventure. Finally, Gilbert exhaustingly groaned and sat up in the bed, rubbing his tired eyes. Not even a couple seconds later, he collapsed back onto the bed and hid his head under the blankets.

"No, you have to wake up now! We don't want to be late." Romano frowned and removed the covers from over Gilbert's head. The boy let out a small cry and tried tugging the blankets once more out of Romano's grasp.

"I don't want to, I must sleep!" Gilbert wiggled around like a worm having a seizure and continued to whine.

"Look, you can go back to sleep on the damn plane. I'm tired, too, so we'll just have to deal with it and work together to get there, alright?"

Seeing as he had no choice, Gilbert nodded and groaned before sliding off of the warm bed and onto the cool floor. He watched as Romano shuffled around the room to gather his things and occasionally cursing at the lack of time. He stood around for a while in a daze before Romano finally noticed that he wasn't doing what he was told.

"What are you doing? Don't you know how to get ready on your own by now?"

Gilbert shrugged and went back to his exhausted yawning. "I don't feel as awesome today."

"You're the one who wanted to go to the carnival last night. It's only natural that you'd be exhausted from walking around most of Venice, even if you do have excessive energy most of the time."

"Do we have to leave? I like uncle Italy's house, and he always gives me good treats."

Romano rolled his eyes, obviously growing impatient. "Don't you want to be with Gilbird? The bird can't survive on his own for so long, and who knows how much birdfeed he's eaten."

"I do! I want to see him!"

"Then shut up and come on, if we're late then I'm making you walk there."

Whether he was joking about that or not, Gilbert decided to agree and took Romano's hand, joining him in the bathroom. After another episode of teaching Gilbert how to brush his teeth again, they wiggled on their clothes and finished packing their things before meeting Veneziano at the front door to bid farewell.

"Bye Gilbert! I'm going to miss you, so come back and visit again sometime, alright?"

Veneziano kneeled down and pecked the boy's forehead, then ruffled his already messy hair.

Gilbert gave him a shy smile and nodded. "I will, and you have to give me more awesome treats, too."

"Enough with the mushy crap, we're going to be late," Romano said, groaning as he picked up their suitcases and opened the door.

Gilbert tugged on his pants leg, almost pulling them down. "Carry me, commoner."

"What did you say, brat?" Romano looked down and gave him a glare that would probably hurt more than a smack to the face.

"He's obviously tired. Here, I'll help!"

Veneziano lifted Gilbert from the ground and placed him on Romano's back. Now he looked like some sort of pack mule with all the things in his hands and the child on his back.

"He has two legs, he can walk on his own!"

"But look, he's already fast asleep!"

Sure enough, Gilbert tightly held onto Romano and was now already asleep. He looked absolutely adorable, as usual, and Romano couldn't help but chuckle a bit. It was kind of embarrassing, but he decided to let it slide this time and be Gilbert's loyal steed again.

"Aw, you look like a father," Veneziano laughed, patting Romano's head.

"Shut up, no I don't… anyways, I'll see you sometime at work or some shit like that. Hopefully Gilbert will have changed back to Prussia by then. Bye."

Turning his back, Romano quickly walked off with a sleeping Gilbert on his back and many bags in his hands. Thankfully, he was able to catch a taxicab almost immediately afterwards and made his way to the airport. Surprisingly, Gilbert stayed asleep the entire time they were in the cab and didn't even wake up when they arrived at the their destination. That meant more carrying to do for Romano, so he lifted the child and they soon boarded the plane. Of course, the sudden lifting off the ground immediately awakened him for another terrible experience in the sky. At least Romano stayed awake with him this time.

* * *

><p>Once they had safely arrived in Sicily and exited the airport, Romano inhaled the fresh air of his beloved home. For once, Gilbert wasn't whining about anything or screaming his lungs off, so all was well. The little albino monster still seemed to be exhausted and shaken from the flight, so Romano carried him once again to the car to drive back to the house.<p>

It seemed like it had been forever since his bizarre awakening, a few days before. Now, it felt almost natural to have little Gilbert by his side while they got into all sorts of mishaps. Instead of waking up every morning and hoping the body next to him would be a man instead of a small boy, he hoped that the day would go smoother than the last. Sure it had only been five days, but each day that passed by meant something. Romano didn't know what, though.

"Finally, my own damn home." Romano opened the front door, dragging the suitcases behind as he and Gilbert stepped inside of the home. It looked exactly as they had left it, which might have been a bad thing, considering how messy it was.

"Look, there's Gilbird!" Gilbert shouted, as the small bird flew over to where they stood and landed on the child's head.

"See, it's perfectly fine. I don't look forward to cleaning up any messes he's made, though."

Trying his hardest not to think of it, Romano shoved the cases to the side and decided to unpack later. It was a little past lunchtime, and he was obviously hungry. Some tomato soup and garlic bread would have to suffice, until he felt like making an actual meal. The jet lag was already getting to him.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" he asked, turning around to find Gilbert slouched against a wall.

"I'm going back to awesome napping."

"Well, there's a bed for that. Come on, get up from the floor and go upstairs."

Gilbert groaned irritably and rolled around on the floor. He tried to get up shortly afterwards, but gave up and continued to roll around like a big worm. As if that wasn't annoying enough, he continued to whine until Romano decided to pick him up and carry him up the stairs himself.

"Here's what we'll do. I'll wake you up when lunch is ready, alright?" he suggested, tucking Gilbert into the previously empty bed.

Without even answering, Gilbert quickly shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep as Romano left the room, retreating back down the stairs. Being in his own home again gave him a sense of nostalgia, even though it was really messy. Since he wouldn't be able to cook with that junk on his mind, Romano made the decision to clean everything up while he still had a little bit of energy left.

"What the hell… I seriously don't remember leaving this much of a mess," he groaned, finally finishing his sweeping as he returned to the pantry to fetch the mop. Now would have been a wonderful time to have Veneziano around, that guy never seemed bothered when it came to doing chores.

As if his annoying younger brother had heard his wishes, the phone began to ring. Romano dropped everything that he was half-assed working on, and dashed to answer it. To his surprise, it was indeed Veneziano.

"Hey! It's good to hear that you made it home safely. I'm calling to let you know that Gilbert left one of his toys!"

Seriously? That's what he was calling to say? Romano would have slammed the phone down in the idiot's face, but he was just too exhausted to even get remotely angry.

"Who cares about a stupid toy. He probably doesn't even remember having it in the first place," he answered, sighing into the phone.

"But, won't he be sad when he realizes he lost it?"

"I won't remind him, then. Now, get off of the phone so that I can finish what I was doing and begin fixing something to eat. I'm starving."

"Wait! I also wanted to ask how he was doing. He seemed as if he was sick this morning. Have you checked his temperature?"

Sick? That didn't make much sense, because Gilbert was perfectly fine. It was true that he was as exhausted as Romano was, but that was normal for a child his age. After all, he'd used all of his energy roaming around Venice at the carnival the previous night, and he also had to wake up pretty early that morning. Not to mention the plane ride back home. So, most likely, he was just extremely tired. And if Romano didn't focus enough, he would have found himself falling asleep while cooking, burning the entire house down in a flash.

"He's just tired, and so am I. I'm going to take a siesta after lunch, so don't even worry about it. Now, goodbye."

And with that, he quickly hung up and resumed his cleaning. He thought about going upstairs to check on Gilbert, but there wasn't any sound of stirring going on, so the child must have still been asleep.

* * *

><p>After lots of cooking and what seemed like forever, the tomato soup and garlic bread was finally completed. Since Gilbert was still upstairs, Romano ascended the stairway to retrieve him so that they could enjoy their lunch. When he entered the room, he was a little surprised to see that the boy was still sound asleep. Usually, he would have awoken when Romano called his name and began to jump around like a lunatic. It took a little while, as Romano gently shook his shoulder to awaken him from his slumber. Finally, Gilbert slowly fluttered his weary eyes open and stared at the man before him.<p>

"Lunch is ready, won't you come down and eat it?" he asked.

Gilbert simply shook his head and began to shut his eyes again. Crap, if Veneziano was right, then this would surely be bothersome. Romano tried to get the thought out of his head that Gilbert could in fact be sick, since he never refused food before. He quickly put a hand to the child's forehead, which wasn't hot at all. He was sure it was actually a normal temperature. And, Gilbert hadn't coughed or sneezed even once.

"You don't feel sick… so, what's the matter? Are you really that tired? But, you just took a long nap."

"I don't want any," Gilbert murmured.

Even when Romano went downstairs into the kitchen and brought back a small bowl and some crackers, Gilbert could only intake so much before he refused to eat another spoon full. If he wasn't sick with a cold, then perhaps there was something in his body that made him not want to eat? Gilbert also needed help going to the bathroom, when he claimed that his legs wouldn't work. Just to be safe, Romano called a doctor to get him checked for anything serious.

No fever, no internal problems, nothing. The doctor came and went, giving the same solution that Romano had thought. Gilbert was just tired. It didn't really make much sense, but Romano didn't question it.

"Come on, Gilbert. It's bath time now," Romano said, gently picking up the small boy into his arms and carrying him into the bathroom. He kept Gilbert busy by letting him play with a rubber duck as he let the water get nice and warm. Romano began to drift off into thought, wondering when it was that he had become like a father. In only a few days, he had gotten so used to being with Gilbert, that he'd nearly forgotten what life was like before with Prussia.

Technically, they were the same person, but things were so different now. It was no secret that he missed spending leisurely time with his boyfriend, arguing, baking together, watching boring movies… okay, so they didn't really watch them but instead began to make-out on the couch. That was one of the things that he missed the most. Being affectionate with his lover. Now, he felt like a single parent who hadn't gotten laid in years.

"In you go," Romano said, placing Gilbert into the tub of warm water with lots of bubbles, at the boy's request. Surprisingly, it wasn't like the first time he had given Gilbert a bath. Or even the times after that at Veneziano's house. He would either whine about having to take a bath, or fight the entire time. Now, Gilbert silently played with the duck and hardly even splashed around.

"You'll feel better soon, I promise. The doctor said so, too. You just need lots of rest." Romano rinsed the little bit of shampoo out of Gilbert's fuzzy hair and sighed. He was only trying to be reassuring, although he didn't know the answer himself.

Gilbert giggled and looked up from his playing. "And then we will go hunting again, right Vati?"

"What?"

"You always say, that I won't become to most awesome nation in the world if I can't even hunt properly! I need to practice."

What the hell? Was Gilbert going back to saying those weird things again, as if he was delusional? Romano could only stare at the child, who soon went back to playing with the toy. He wasn't sure how he should have reacted, but he felt a bit of panic creep into his mind.

"No, Gilbert. What's my name? Who am I?" he frantically asked, turning the boy to face him.

Gilbert blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds, before smiling faintly and answering, "You are Romano, my boss! Have you forgotten already? You're kind of stupid sometimes, Romano."

Staring once again, Romano really couldn't figure out what had just happened. Gilbert was supposedly back to normal now, or rather, he snapped out of his little trance? He wasn't sure, but now he was really paranoid and tired of this entire thing.

* * *

><p>"Change him back, you son of a bitch," Romano snarled into the phone an hour later. He really didn't want to be bothered with talking to the asshole on the other side of the line, but it wasn't as if he had any choice now.<p>

"Well, that isn't any way to speak to someone, especially when you are the one to call them first. Tell me what it is you are even talking about, you're interrupting me in the middle of my reading," England answered in a rather irritated voice at first, but then remained calm.

"I don't care what I'm interrupting, just change Gil— I mean, Prussia back to normal! Something is wrong with him, and I don't know what it is. The doctor doesn't know, either. There's nothing I can do now, so you had better change him back since it's your fault he's like this in the first place!"

England sighed into the phone, annoyed at Romano's senseless yelling. "You mean to say that he is still a child?"

"No shit, Sherlock. Now change him."

"It is not my job to break spells, I'm not some sort of warlock. You haven't even given me a detailed explanation as to what you're complaining about. So, I cannot help you simply by listening to your rambling."

"Fine! Where the hell do I even start… ever since yesterday, he's been having mood swings, I think. Yeah, and today he has been exhausted since morning. He can't even walk by himself anymore, I have to help him to the bathroom and help change into his pajamas. And, his memory is all out of whack! He also refused to eat the rest of the delicious food that I made for him."

For a second, Romano had assumed that England hung up. He was about to do the same out of rage, but then he heard a slight humming sound on the other end of the line.

"I see. Based on what you've said, I'd guess that the spell is wearing off now," he answered.

Romano rolled his eyes. "You mean the curse."

"It's not a curse! Anyway, different spells have different side effects when they are wearing off. It could be in a positive way, or a negative way. It varies. I'm unsure of what your situation means, though. I currently do not have my spell book by my side."

"Then go get the piece of crap and find out. Er… please?"

"Ah, fine. I will do so since you are so desperate for my help."

Desperate? How dare the English bastard say that! Romano growled in annoyance as the other man put him on hold to search through his library. If anything, the jerk should have been completely willing to help, since it was his stupid fairy's fault that all of this shit happened. Hell, if he felt like it (and if he wasn't a coward), Romano would've marched all the way to the U.K and pummeled the bastard's face into the ground. Yeah, that would've been nice. At least he could imagine it, since it would never become reality.

Tapping his foot on the floor impatiently, he began to wonder if the other nation would come back at all. Finally, he heard the sound of a bit of rustling, as the phone was picked up again.

"This isn't good," England quickly spoke, before Romano could say a thing. "You have to break the spell. And quickly!"

"What the hell are you talking about? That's what I've been trying to do for the past few days, dammit! You said the spell is wearing off, so shouldn't I continue doing what I'm doing now? Unless you lied. But, why does it have to be soon?"

"Never mind what I said. It's true that the spell is wearing off, but the side effects to this one are deadly! If you don't change him back yourself, he could die. He would not magically change back, it would be the end of Prussia."

Romano was completely frozen for a long moment, as England began to repeat himself.

"No, I heard you the first time. But… that's not possible. You must be mistaken! I mean, Gilbert can't just die… he's healthy, and just exhausted, that's all."

"If that were true, then you wouldn't have called me in the first place. Get it through your head, you git. The child is dying."

That was enough of the bullshit, he didn't want to hear it anymore. Romano set the phone down after he hung up, and stood there for a moment in thought. Nations didn't just die from stupid little spells. Well, Gilbert wasn't really a nation, but still! Whatever the bastard was saying had to have been a lie, and he wasn't helpful at all so there was no reason to take his word for anything. The only thing Romano wanted to believe was that the spell was wearing off, and that Gilbert would become Prussia once again.

"I'm sure it's nothing… dramatic idiot," Romano cursed to himself, walking back up the stairs and into the bedroom.

"Read this book!" Gilbert shouted, as he was already tucked into bed and holding an old story book in his hands.

Romano sighed an obediently took the book, then climbed into the other side of the bed to get cozy. "Hm? Where did you get this from? I haven't read this in so long… I mean, obviously. It's for children!"

"Just read it, I demand to know the story! It looks kind of awesome."

"Alright, settle down… wait, it's in Italian. You wouldn't understand a single word."

Gilbert only nuzzled into the pillow and stared at up Romano, still expecting a wonderful bedtime story.

"Fine, dammit. I guess I'll just have to translate it. How bothersome… ready?"

Once the child nodded, Romano roughly began to translate an old children's book that was somehow lying in his house. It proved to be a little difficult, since some of the events didn't make sense to Gilbert. But, Romano patiently tried to explain it like a good guardian would. When he was finally finished, he tossed the book onto the nightstand and watched as Gilbert began to drift off to sleep.

"Strange… you're still so tired, even after sleeping most of the day," he said, slowly running a hand through Gilbert's hair.

The child yawned and lazily shook his head. "I'm charging up my awesome strength, is all."

Romano chuckled yawned as well, feeling just a bit more at ease. "So, you're not feeling sick anymore, right?"

He awaited an answer, but Gilbert was already sound asleep, silently breathing and looking as peaceful as ever. Well, there goes his answer. He could only hope for the best when he awoken the next morning.

* * *

><p>Just as some of the previous mornings had been, Romano heard the small pitter-patter of scurrying feet roam across the hardwood bedroom floor, as he tried to resume his peaceful dreams. However, he couldn't ignore them, when they began to grow louder along with the slamming of doors and drawers. He growled, and without opening his eyes, patted the spot next to him where Gilbert had been. Not to his surprise, since he had expected it, the child was not lying there anymore.<p>

"Gilbert… what the hell are you doing?" he asked in an irritated but exhausted tone. Not long after, the child climbed up onto the bed and began jumping up and down on the mattress, as Romano tried to fully wake himself up. But, Gilbert was doing a better job at that.

"Wake up, Romano! Wake up!" Gilbert shouted, and plopped down onto Romano lap. He ignored the complaints of the older man as he was now being scolded, and instead began to shake Romano's shoulders.

"What? What is it now? Can't you see I'm trying to teach you a lesson?"

"I want to ride the train," Gilbert firmly announced.

"The train? You mean the one you saw on the television? Ah— We can't just hop onto a train. Where would we go?"

"To uncle Italy's house! It was a lot of fun there, and we can go to the carnival again!"

"To the carnival? Veneziano's? We were just there! You already want to go back?" Romano groaned irritably, shaking his head. This kid was nuts. At least he seemed to be in high spirits this morning. However, when he looked at his watch, it was only six o'clock!

"Well, we don't have to go there… but, I need to ride the train! Before it's too late! Please, Romano?" Gilbert continued to plead, tugging on Romano's shirt while poking out his bottom lip in a sad pout. If one thing he learned faster than anything else, was Romano's weakness. And that was the cute pout on his face.

"You're not going to give up, are you? And what do you mean by 'too late'? I seriously don't know where we'd go, either."

Gilbert only frowned deeper and quivered his lip, silently whimpering, which was making Romano go crazy.

"Fine! We'll go on a damn train ride. Only because… I have something to do in a place far from here. Yeah, somewhere my stupid boss is making me go. It just so happens that I feel like getting it done early, so we'll go on a train ride. Perhaps I'll even take you to the tomato fields, if you be good."

"Awesome! I will be good, I promise!"

"Alright, then. Now shut up, let go of me, get off my lap, and go get ready to leave."

When Gilbert did as he told and unmounted both Romano's lap and the bed, he practically flew all around the room to look for everything he'd take. As usual, when Romano looked to the floor, he found that Gilbert had already thrown his own clothes around, along with some of Romano's items. Sighing, Romano stood up from the bed and hoped that there would be a change today. First, he needed to fully awaken.

As slowly as a sloth, Romano descended the stairs and dragged himself into the kitchen to make a nice cup of espresso. He ignored Gilbert's excited cheering from upstairs, and shook his head. He almost couldn't believe that he'd fallen for such a trick. Damn his weakness for Gilbert's pouting face that Prussia also used to use against him when they would have arguments. Especially when the man wanted something from him.

"Dammit… gets me every time," Romano mumbled to himself, waiting for the water to boil.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a loud thump of something hit the floor upstairs. He quickly looked up towards the stairs, as it was now completely silent. Great, just his luck, Gilbert had probably dropped something very expensive of his, even though he told the little brat on the first day, not to go into any of the other rooms where he did his work!

Sighing to himself, Romano quickly ascended the stairs again to give the kid a scolding. First, he'd make sure Gilbert was okay, just in case the mysterious item had possibly dropped on his foot or something. That would teach him a lesson, though.

Romano felt his heart instantly drop to the floor when he saw that it was not something that had been dropped, but someone. Lying face down in the middle of the hallway, was the body of the young albino boy, who appeared to not be moving at all.

"Gilbert!" Romano yelled out the other's name as he quickly ran to the child's side and turned him over. Thank the heavens above, he was still breathing normally but his eyes were closed and his body temperature was scorching.

Romano quickly picked him up and carried him back into the bedroom, placing him onto the bed and examining his body for any bruises, cuts, or something that could have possibly been the cause. Though, he found nothing that could have done any physical harm to the boy, and began to feel completely useless.

"Everything… is dizzy," Gilbert murmured, as he opened his eyes just a bit to see the room around him. It felt as if the entire world was spinning in circles, and his head couldn't keep up.

"Don't move! I'll… I will make you feel better, so just relax!"

Even so, Romano was at a loss as he frantically looked around the room and back at Gilbert. Should he call the ambulance? Only a few minutes ago the child had been his usual, annoying self and wasn't sick at all! His breathing was perfectly fine as well. What the hell was the meaning of this? None of it made sense!

Suddenly, his mind clicked back to what England had told him. The spell was wearing off, and the side effects could be equivalent to the exact thing Romano feared most.

"Vati, I don't feel so good… can we skip training today?"

"I'm not Germania! I'm Romano, see? South Italy! Can you see me? Don't you remember?"

Once again, Gilbert shut his eyes and lay there, as still as life-sized doll. Romano frantically checked his pulse, which was as normal as can be. He really didn't understand how any of this could be happening, and didn't want to believe in what was true.

"The spell… it's wearing off. How do I break it? How do I change him back!"

As if anyone was listening to his cries, Romano yelled out these questions and prayed for an answer. He searched his mind for anything possible, where there obviously wasn't an answer to begin with. He could feel the life that he cherished so much, slowly slipping away from him.

"That's it, I'm calling an ambulance."

Before Romano could walk away, Gilbert grabbed a hold of his wrist and smiled up at him, albeit very weakly.

"A boss never leaves his minion's side… right?" he said.

"But— the spell! And… god dammit!"

Romano hopelessly dropped to his knees by the side of the bed, clenching Gilbert's small and fragile hand into his own. He began to notice that that hand was gradually becoming colder by the second, as Gilbert's breathing also grew fainter. There had to have been some way to change him back, or something that could've made him feel better. But, Romano had no idea what, and he felt as useless as he did when he was a child. A young nation who could never fend for himself, and now he couldn't even save the love of his life.

"Everything is dark now… are we on the train, Romano? I want to be on the train."

The huge lump in Romano's throat swelled drastically, as he slowly nodded.

"Y-yeah… we're on the train. Can't you hear it? It's really awesome, Gilbert."

The boy sighed contently and smiled once again. Romano didn't ever want to see that smile fade away. Something inside of him seemed to have shattered, as hot tears swelled in his hazel eyes and slithered down his already warm cheeks, staining his face. His whole world was shattering before him, yet he couldn't do a single thing to stop it. If this whole thing was some kind of punishment, then he swore to have learned his lesson, and just wanted everything to go back to the way things were.

"I love you, Romano."

Romano quickly rose his head when he heard those words that sounded as if they were spoken by Prussia. However, the older man was nowhere in sight, only the empty body of the small child lay silent in the bed. Perfectly still, and without a single trace of life.

"No, Gilbert, wake up… I love you, too! This can't be— please, don't take him away from me!" Romano shouted, roughly shaking the lifeless body as his head felt as if it would explode in any given moment. He absolutely refused to accept this, and frantically began the CPR process.

However, fate had been sealed.

"Fuck! Nothing's working… why? Why did it have to be him? I wish none of this had ever happened… I wish that I had Prussia back!"

* * *

><p>The feeling of a warm hand brushing through his hair caused Romano's heart to jump. He fluttered his tired eyes open, and instantly took notice of the pain in his knees from sleeping on the side of the bed like that. Wait, had he been asleep? When did that happen?<p>

"What the hell are you doing, kneeling on the floor with your head on the bed? I don't get how anyone could possibly sleep like that."

Romano instantly lifted his head from the tear-stained sheets and gazed into the face that belonged to the familiar, yet long-lost voice that he'd been dying to hear for days, now.

"Prus-…Prussia?" he mumbled in shock.

"Uh, yeah? That's my awesome name, don't wear it out. So, what'd you do, fall asleep while working again? But, that doesn't explain why you're on the side of the bed, clenching my hand— which hurts a lot, by the way. Were you having a nightmare or something?"

Once again, the tears began to flow from Romano's eyes without ceasing, and he could hardly find the words to speak.

"C-calm down, there's no need to cry! Nightmares are shitty and all, but… my awesomeness is here to cheer you up!"

"Then shut the hell up and hug me already, you bastard!" Romano quickly jumped up onto the bed, knocking Prussia onto his back as he planted countless kisses all over the confused man's face. Whatever Romano was dreaming about, must've been beyond horrible. Nonetheless, Prussia happily welcomed the sweet kisses and eagerly returned them.

"Geez, Romano. You haven't been this affectionate since… well, who the hell knows when. Maybe you should have nightmares more often."

"Hell no! You have no idea what I've been through… I'm just so glad that you're back, though. I thought I had lost you for good!"

"I have no idea what you're even talking about, but if I left you then it must've been the worst nightmare ever. After all, I don't plan on going anywhere, any time soon. You should be grateful to have me and—"

"Shut up, and just let me enjoy this," Romano said, smiling down at his lover as he met those soft lips with a passionate kiss.

All Romano knew was that some way or another, the spell had been broken. Or that's what seemed to have happened. Either way, things would finally be back to normal. It is no doubt that he'd greatly miss having little Gilbert around, as he'd come to love the boy just as much as he loved the older man who acted like a child sometimes. At least now, he wouldn't have to babysit— well, he still had to do that, anyway. There was no way he'd leave Prussia alone in his home for hours at a time.

"You'd think that he would've simply made another wish in the first place! Took him long enough, I was beginning to pity him," laughed a distant voice.

Up above, yet not too far away, Britannia angel watched as the two lovers held each other in their arms. In his eyes, it was almost ridiculous how long it took Romano to figure out that love and a miracle could do pretty much anything. Well, at least everyone was happy now. Perhaps from now on, Romano would be more careful of the things that he wished for.

"Oh well, time to find my next customer!"

And with that, the little angel disappeared in the snap of a finger to find the next lucky contestant who would get their wish granted— or rather, a curse placed upon them.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Again, I apologize if this was crappy. I really need to get back into writing.  
>Anyway, this last chapter was inspired by Clannad and I hope you've enjoyed this random story.<strong>


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